‘Thank you for choosing Saudia’

Abid Khazandar
Al-Riyadh newspaper

“Thank you for choosing Saudia.” This is the routine farewell a crew member on board the Saudia aircraft announces to the passengers just before landing.

This phrase evokes ridicule and often anger, especially when the plane was not on time or returned to the gate due to a technical malfunction; or worse yet, because of trivial matters such as a quarrel between a passenger and crew member or between the crew themselves. Add to this the frustrations of getting a flight booking after an extended waiting time.

We were happy with the entry of two new low cost airlines to operate domestic and foreign services.

But one of these companies is defunct while the second one is also facing difficulties. The outcome has had a negative impact on passengers. By taking advantage of this situation, Saudia canceled some of its domestic services that are running at a loss causing difficulties for the movement of passengers from one city to another. This was more evident in the case of trips to Riyadh where people have to get things done from government offices and departments.

Qatar Airways started taking advantage of this opportunity by operating scheduled domestic and international flights to the Kingdom.

Qatar Airways is one of the modern airlines with an Airbus A350 fleet, one of the most efficient and highly advanced aircraft. The airline’s operation of services makes qualitative and quantitative improvement in air traffic service in the Kingdom.

It should provide an incentive to Saudia to follow the example of Qatar Airways and to improve its services and retain their passengers who can then be thanked for choosing to fly with Saudia.