Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) plans to hike airfares to help meet the costs of expanding its fleet, provide training for staff and improve services.

This is according to Saleh Al-Jasser, director general of Saudia, who said that tickets have been subsidized for many years. An increase would help the company meet all current and future operational costs, he was quoted as saying in a media report on Friday.

He said there are plans underway to set up an international maintenance center over an area of 1 million square meters at a cost of $1 billion at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

He said there has also been a new passenger services area launched in Riyadh city. He said this facility, which would be expanded to other cities soon, would allow people to check in their luggage and get boarding passes for international flights 12 to 24 hours in advance.

He said Saudia was working on a program to have 200 planes by 2020 and increase flights between cities. Fifty new aircraft have been acquired from Airbus, most of which are being used for domestic and regional flights. More aircraft would be acquired in the future.

Saudi Arabian Airlines has signed agreements to send 5,000 Saudi students abroad for studies. Out of these, 3,000 would study aviation and the rest technical skills and maintenance of aircraft in the United States.

Saudi Arabia has privatized units of the national airline in recent years. Saudi Airlines Catering Co. and Saudi Ground Services Co. have been listed on the stock market and the cargo unit is expected to be next.

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