SriLankan Airlines will make Saudi Arabia 's  city of Jeddah its 51st global destination, launching a twice weekly service starting March 27, 2007.

The airline signed a   codeshare   agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines on February 27, for services to Jeddah on Tuesday and Friday.

Jeddah is SriLankan Airlines third destination in Saudi Arabia and the ninth in the airline’s Middle East route network.

“Over 500,000 Sri Lankans are estimated to be working and living in Saudi Arabia, with a significant number of them in Jeddah. We are confident our new service will greatly enhance travel between Colombo and Jeddah,” SriLankan Airlines’ Head of Worldwide Passenger Sales, Manoj Gunawardena said.

The  Sri Lankan Ambassador  in Saudi Arabia,  His Excellency Mr. A M J Sadiq said “The proposed regular flight operations would be a dream-come-true to the large Sri Lankan expatriate community in the  western region of   Saudi Arabia, who have long yearned for this service.”

Jeddah is also the principal gateway to Makkah, the holiest city of Islam, which able-bodied Muslims are required to visit at least once in a lifetime, to perform the Haj pilgrimage. The holy city attracts between two to three million visitors annually.

In 2006, SriLankan Airlines expanded its services to the Middle East, increasing frequencies to a number of destinations including Dubai and Doha, in a strategy to offer greater convenience for passengers travelling through its Colombo hub. 

The addition of Jeddah to SriLankan Airlines’ Middle East network is also expected to complement the airlines’ Indian network, spanning ten key destinations.

“SriLankan Airlines is the largest foreign carrier into India with 94 weekly flights, making us a preferred carrier to the subcontinent’s residents,” SriLankan Airlines, Regional Manager Middle East, Mohamed Fazeel said.

“We are continuously looking for new opportunities to enhance our service and adding new destinations and increasing frequencies is a vital component,” he added.

SriLankan Airlines has in recent years achieved global recognition for its standards in excellence, winning such prestigious titles as World's Best Airline in a survey of Economy Class passengers, World's Friendliest Cabin Staff, first runner-up for World's Best Cabin Staff, Best Overall Inflight Entertainment (for a fleet of 20 or less), and World's Most Efficient Operator of Airbus A330s (small fleet category) from Airbus Industrie.

SriLankan has also dominated regional awards, winning the Skytrax award for Best Airline in Central Asia for four consecutive years, as well as the TTG Asia Award for Best Airline in South Asia three times, the Galileo Indian Express Award for the Best Eastbound International Airline from India and most recently, the award for Foreign Carrier of the Year for the South Asia Sector at the inaugural KLIA Awards in Kuala Lumpur.

March 01st, 2007