Saudia issues RFP to world's airports

The national airline of Saudi Arabia, based at Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport, operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 70 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Mr. Mohammed Binhafeez, Senior Planning Specialist at recently rebranded Saudia, said, "We are re-structuring our network and looking forward we aim to reach new destinations. In order to do that Saudia have invested heavily in an expansion of our fleet. Moreover, the opening of the new Jeddah airport in 2014 will make links to new destinations and our current network more efficient. We are using Route Exchange to reach new markets and welcome airports worldwide to join the process to demonstrate what opportunities exist from their markets to our bases."

Declan Maguire, Business Development Manager for Route Exchange, stated, "The Saudia Request for Proposals represents an excellent opportunity for airports worldwide to pitch their route proposals directly to the planning team of a highly successful Middle Eastern carrier. Saudia are prepared to listen to any airport who can demonstrate strong demand between their market and their Jeddah and Riyadh bases. Saudia have specific intelligence requests of airports which are detailed in the full Request for Proposals (RFP) document."

Once airports have met the terms of the Prequalifying Questionnaire (PQQ), they will then be sent the formal RFP where they can complete a pre-defined data requirements and a proposal document. Saudia will then analyse the submissions before scheduling meetings with potential new airport partners at World Routes, The 18th World Route Development Forum which will take place 29 September - 2 October this year in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.