Saudia

In 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave King Abdulaziz Al Saud a Douglas DC-3 as a gift. That single aircraft became the seed of what is now Saudia, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia. The airline started scheduled services in 1946, flying to Cairo, Damascus, and Beirut. It was renamed Saudia in 1972 to simplify its international identity, though the legal name remains Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Today, Saudia operates from its main base in Jeddah, with secondary hubs in Medina and Dammam. The airline plans to vacate its Riyadh hub by 2030 to make way for the new Riyadh Air. Saudia serves over 100 destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. It joined the SkyTeam alliance on May 29, 2012, the first Middle Eastern carrier to do so. The airline also runs extra charter flights during Ramadan and Hajj to accommodate pilgrims, a service it calls Flying with a Difference.

Saudia is owned by the Saudi government through the Public Investment Fund. Its CEO since 2022 is Jaan Albrecht, a veteran airline executive who previously led Austrian Airlines and held senior roles at Star Alliance. The chairman is Saleh Al-Jasser, the Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics. In 2023, Saudia launched a brand refresh with a new deep blue livery, a modernized emblem, and the tagline A New Heart for the Sky.[edit]