Saudia to increase seat capacity for domestic flights from September

Saudia to increase seat capacity for domestic flights from September

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday lifted a direct entry ban on expatriates from 20 countries, a measure that had been in place since February to curb the spread of COVID-19. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed yesterday the measures taken by Saudi Arabia to revive the aviation industry as it battles to save more than a quarter of a million related jobs in the Kingdom amid a downturn in travel due to the pandemic In 2019, Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector supported 977,000 jobs and SR240 billion ($64 billion) of GDP, IATA said in a statement. The pandemic has put 361,000 of those jobs and SR85 billion of GDP at risk, while passenger demand is not expected to return to 2019 levels before 2024, it said. Copyright: Arab News © 2021 All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( ).