Saudia starts nonstop flights to Los Angeles for peak August demand

Monday, 10 August 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has begun non-stop direct flights to Los Angeles International Airport from Riyadh.

The inaugural historic flight spanning over 16 hours was from Los Angele to Riyadh in a B777-300ER. The Saudi flag carrier launched its Los Angeles to Jeddah nonstop service last year, on 31 March 2014, starting with three flights a week and currently at five flights weekly during the summer peak season.

While the nonstop LAX-RUH flights will only be limited to the month of August to accommodate market demand during the airline’s peak period, the service is expected to be restored in the future to fulfill the needs of Saudi students, the diplomatic community as well as business travellers who prefer to fly nonstop to the Saudi capital.

Aside from Los Angeles, Saudia currently flies daily from New York JFK, daily from Washington Dulles (IAD) and 3 times a week from Toronto Pearson (YYZ). All flights are nonstop either to Jeddah or Riyadh, with convenient connections to all Saudi domestic points and beyond to its international gateways in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe. Saudia currently flies to more than 80 destinations. As a member of SkyTeam global airline alliance, Saudia also has access to more than 1,000 worldwide destinations serviced by the alliance’s 20 members.

All flights are operated with Boeing B777-300ER with 2 and 3-class configurations. The LAX flights have 24 seats in First Class, 36 seats in Business Class and 245 seats in its Guest Class. As an added in-flight service feature, an on-board SkyChef serves passengers in the First Class cabin but also solicits feedback from Business Class and Guest Class passengers.

The first LAX-RUH nonstop flight had a total of 268 passengers on board, 88% of total seat capacity with 222 Guest Class, 36 Business Class and 10 First Class passengers.