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Emirates ramps up Saudi services

DUBAI — Emirates is boosting flights into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and will offer 20 more flights each week from February 2. Riyadh goes from 17 to 28 flights a week, Jeddah jumps from 18 to 21 flights and Dammam has received an extra six services, becoming 13 flights a week.

There will continue to be a daily flight to Al Madinah Al Munawarah. The changes will take the airline’s KSA flights to 69 per week.

“Stepping up our presence in Saudi brings greater convenience to customers and more opportunities to enjoy the world-renowned Emirates’ experience,” Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates’ vice-president, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & Bahrain, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Emirates serves four gateways in Saudi Arabia; Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah, which is served by the airline’s Wi-Fi equipped, flagship aircraft, the A380.

On three days this month — 16^th, 25^th and 26^th January — Emirates is offering a triple daily A380 service to Jeddah to support school holiday demand, while making it even easier to travel to the popular Dubai Shopping Festival. On 17^th January, demand was such that a total of four Emirates’ A380s were sent to Jeddah in one day.

Emirates picks banks

Meanwhile, Emirates has picked six banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a possible bond issue, a document from arranging banks said on Wednesday.

The airline chose Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered to arrange the roadshows, the document said. A bond could follow the meetings, which will be held in London and Singapore on January 28, Boston and Hong Kong on January 29 and New York on January 30, subject to market conditions, it added.

— with input from agencies

— business@khaleejtimes.com