Saudia, as the Saudi Arabian Airline was known between the years 1972 to 1996, is the national flag airline of the Saudi Arabian. Jeddah is the base of the Saudia airline. In the year 1997, Saudia changed the airline name to Saudi Arabian airline. According to Russel and Cohn (35), this is because Saudi Arabian Airline made a large rebranding initiative that saw the airline join an alliance with the SkyTeam airline. Joining Skyteam was the biggest step that saw Saudi Arabian airline increase in their operations both locally and internationally. Saudi Arabian Airline operates international and domestic flights in more than 90 destinations in Africa, the Middle East, North America and Europe.
Ramady (343) emphasizes Saudi Arabian Airline carry out most international and domestic flight charters during the Hajj and Ramadhan seasons. During these, two seasons. Many Muslims travel in large numbers to Jeddah for the celebrations of Ramadhan. Ramadhan acts as a tourist attraction, therefore, attracting many tourists from all over the world. This makes air transport in Saudi so busy during the period. Saudi Arabian operating base is At JED, Jeddah King Abdulaziz Airport. JED is an international airport that serves all international flights. Riyadh King Khalid, RUH and Dammam King Fahd international airports also act as airline bases for the Saudi airline bases. When Dammam started commercial operations, Dhahran reverted to military operations. Al- Rasheed (213) confirms that Saudia is one of the members of the Arab Air Organization. Arab Air is the third largest airline in the Middle East after Qatar and Emirates airlines.
Saudia's Strengths
One of the strengths of Saudi Arabia airline is that it operates in a unilateral MED gateway. According to Al- Rasheed (265), the MED gateway is a single operating unit that directs international flights into Saudi Arabia. Directing international flights into Saudi Arabia build the economy of the country as well as that of the airline. When the airline gets many international directing, many tourists get attracted to the features and comfort of the Saudi hospitality. This makes Saudi Arabia a tourist attraction. When passengers use the Saudi airline, they make the airline more reliable and increase in her operations both domestically and internationally.
Saudi airline has an extensive network routes that link all the domestic airports. The Kingdom linking routes makes the Saudi airline operating easily and more efficient. Ramady (323) asserts that, the linkage of domestic airports in Saudi Arabia improves airline services and the flow of air transport. This linkage reduces the congestion that other international airlines experience. Ramady affirms that domestic airports in Saudi Arabia facilitates operations by coordinating the all the international airports (334).
Saudi Arabia has international links with over 47 countries worldwide. This linkage attracts citizens from the countries into Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia airline has links with cities populated with Muslims. According to Russel and Cohn (54) Muslims, use Saudi Arabian airlines to attend the celebrations of Ramadhan and Hajj. The international link attracts all tourists from all over the world. The extension provides faster transport by easing congestion of transport hence facilitating the flow of transport between Saudi Arabia and the world.
Saudi Arabia airline acquired new fleets. Acquisition of the new fleets enables efficient air transport in Saudi Arabia air. According to Russel and Cohn (58) new fleets makes the airline up to date with technology that enables the airline compete favorably with other airlines like Emirates. Acquiring new fleets enables Saudi Arabia airline develop more markets hence attracting many investors and passengers. Saudi Arabia also deploys new cargo and passenger fleets on new routes. This improves quality products and services hence increasing the capacity of passenger into Saudi Arabia.
Saudia's Weaknesses
The current state of the Saudi Arabian fleets hinders progress and her realizing the full potential. Al- Rasheed affirms those Saudi Arabian fleets are not in a good state, thus hindering full potential of performance. Their fleets are not in the best state to handle the ever-changing technological advancements. Therefore, the Saudi Arabian airline should move in quickly to adopt the new technology.
The poor and aging interior image of the Saudi Arabian airline gives the world a poor image. Many people in the world perceive Saudi Arabia, as one of the oldest airlines in the world, nevertheless: the Saudi airlines do not keep up with the new changes. The delay or cancellation of air travel affects passengers. According to Al- Rasheed (326) efficient and quality services improves transportation hence the Saudi airline should move fast to correct and offer quality airline services.
Saudi Arabia has long insufficient connecting international. According to Ramady (375) long and unstable connecting flights hinders air transport and leads to transit traffic in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian airline, therefore, must improve her quality services to ease transit traffic. This will improve her product quality and facilitates transport.
Saudi Arabian airline has poor handling of freight and passengers services. The giveaway and amenities that the airlines provide do not meet the customers’ expectations. According to Ramady (378), all services provided by airlines must meet customers’ needs. This attracts customers, which improves the image and quality of products provided by the airline. Saudi Arabian airlines lack proper programs that should improve responsiveness and awareness of customer services and products. The existing programs do not meet customer demands.
Saudi Arabian airline utilizes least equipment to provide services to passengers. These services are below the standards. Saudi Arabian airline has inadequate yield management programs hindering the maximizing on passengers revenue and uplift. According to Ramady (312) quality, usage of utility improves on the services provided by an airline, which attracts air transport, and services to passengers.
Although Saudi Arabian airline has many challenges, it still offers the best training and job opportunities to the entire qualified personnel. After a thorough research on the airline, I strongly believe that a qualified AS major should consider Saudi Arabian airline as a potential employer.
Works Cited
Al- Rasheed, Madawi. A History of Saudi Arabia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010,
print.
Ramady, Mohamed A. The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements, and Challenges.
New York: Springer, 2010, print.
Russel, Jesse and Ronald Cohn. Saudi Arabian Airlines. Saarbrücken: Book on Demand Ltd,
2012, print.
.
