Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) will celebrate the golden jubilee of its operation to Dubai tomorrow (February 19) with a colourful ceremony.

The Kingdom’s national flag carrier launched its first flight to Dubai from Dhahran in March 1963, carrying just 48 passengers.

This opened a new era in its international operations as the number of Saudia flights to Dubai increased to 74 weekly. These flights are operated from the Kingdom’s major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah.

According to experts, the total number of passengers carried by Saudia annually between the two countries rose to more than 500,000.

A variety of programs have been lined up at Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort to mark the occasion under the patronage of  Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation and chairman of Saudia.

These include a speech by Khaled Al-Molhem, the director general of Saudia, the screening of a documentary film on the airline’s history and achievements, and an exhibition highlighting Saudia’s development, services at sales offices, electronic and self-services, and progress of Dubai services during the past 50 years.

Besides Al-Molhem, those taking part in the celebrations include Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, the president of Civil Aviation in Dubai and chairman of Emirates Airlines and other senior Saudia executives.

Prince Fahd will open Saudia’s new office in Dubai, which was designed to cope with the airline’s marvelous development in services. The new office is located in Vision Tower, which overlooks BurjKhalifa, Dubai Governorate and Sheikh Zayed Street. Its design reflects Saudia’s new identity and image.

It houses the office of the general manager for Middle East and Gulf, administrative offices, training halls, finance department, sales and marketing departments and prayer hall that provide a suitable atmosphere for extending services.-TradeArabia News Service