Saudia Restarts Jeddah-Manchester Route

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), the national carrier of the Kingdom, has announced that it will restart flights from Jeddah to Manchester.

The airline will resume services to Manchester from March 28, after a seven-year gap and will fly thrice a week to the city.

The route is expected to attract a mixture of leisure and business travellers as it looks to tap into northwest England’s Muslim community travelling for their pilgrimage to the Kingdom.

“Commercial ties between the North of England and Saudi Arabia have traditionally been very strong and this new service will give business customers in the region the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia without having to transfer en-route,” said Rashid Alajmi, Saudia’s general manager of passenger sales and services for the European region.

Ken O’Toole, chief commercial officer for Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “We are delighted to welcome Saudia Airlines back to Manchester Airport with their introduction of Jeddah services.

“The introduction of the new three-weekly Jeddah route will further strengthen the Middle East connections from Manchester and sees another direct long-haul service added to our network of connections.”

“The introduction of this route is testament to the strength of Manchester airport’s catchment and we look forward to this direct service supporting the strong commercial, ethnic and educational relationships that exist between Saudi Arabia and the northwest.”

Alajmi also said that Saudia’s revival of the Manchester route would be beneficial to Saudi students studying in the UK.