Saudi Arabian Airlines is planning to hire more women in the airline’s catering division.

While opening Alfursan internal lounge at the departure terminal 5 at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabian Airlines Director General Saleh Al-Jasser said nearly 300 women will be employed in the national carrier’s premises in Jeddah and Madinah

Wajdy Al-Ghabban, CEO of Saudi Airlines Catering Co., confirmed to Arab News that Saudi Catering plans to hire more women over the next three years. As many as 221 women will be hired only in one division (kitchen) in Jeddah.

Saudia Catering, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian Airlines, has already 120 women employed in the fields of retail and logistics.

Recent statistics from the Ministry of Labor (MoL) show that the Saudi private sector employed more than 350,000 women at the end of 2015, and the figure is expected to reach 450,000 by the end of 2016, a local publication reports.

The MoL said in a recent report that securing suitable jobs for women was one of the most important goals for Saudi society, adding that it works with its partners in the labor system to provide a work environment that is safe for women.

Al-Jasser also underlined that Saudia is ready to compete with new operators as the company is always keen to provide its passengers with the highest levels of comfort and safety. It has also been continuously planning to further develop its services like launching new flight routes and destinations, and expanding its seat capacities.

He added that the internal capacity has grown by 16 percent, promising that the aircraft shortage problem will disappear within a year as 40 new planes are expected to join Saudi Arabian Airlines fleet.

“Fourteen new aircraft, including 10 wide-body ones, will enter service in the next 80 days. In 2017, we will receive 30 other planes, which is the biggest number of aircraft purchased by our company in a single year,” said Al-Jasser.

The company had signed deals in 2015 and 2016 to buy as many as 113 start-of-the-art aircraft, in addition to four Boeing’s B787-9 Dreamliners that will be delivered next year.

Al-Jasser noted that these developments were a part of an initiative to upgrade Saudia’s fleet, which aims to increase the number of modern aircraft to 200, the daily flights to 1,000 and the passenger capacity to 45 million by 2020.

“As per the modernization plan, several planes are currently being phased out according to a schedule. Four B747s have been already scrapped, while the remaining Empire-model planes (15 ones) and five first-generation 777-200s will be retired before the end of the year. Other 23 aircraft will be scrapped before the end of 2017.

Plus, 28 A320s will be phased out in two years. All these old planes will be replaced by the new ones,” Al-Jasser said.

Other plans include the opening of new Alfursan lounges at international airports, Cairo Airport being the first to witness such expansion, according to a report in Al-Eqtisadiah.

Faisal Kayal, CEO, Saudia Private Aviation, said Al Bayraq VIP service is running a special fare promotion, ‘Enjoy your early morning coffee with Al Bayraq,’ to frequent travelers.

He said passengers who make advance bookings prior to departure will get the benefit of lower fares.

Kayal said Al Bayraq is using exclusive own private terminals in Jeddah and Riyadh.

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