Birmingham-8
If the Saudi route takes off, where will they fly from Jeddah or Riyadh? Considering the country is dry with some of the most strictest conservative laws I can't see it really working, apart from Mecca during the religious periods. Don't forget Saudi fly from Manchester as well.
The Saudi's have deep pockets and are spending big money on promoting tourism - as clearly stated in the press release posted by Matt995.
Saudi’s tourism ecosystem has an ambitious target of reaching 100m visits annually by 2030, with air connectivity being a central part of achieving this goal. Saudi Tourism Authority's strategy focuses on understanding consumer demand and identifying key source markets. These new direct flight routes have been launched as a response to the uptick in consumer demand from travelers looking to visit or transit through Saudi from Beijing, Birmingham, Kano, and Johannesburg
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Dry flights will be an issue for some, but as I never drink alcohol when flying wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.
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Perhaps they are willing to accept early losses in an effort to drive tourism into the country to spread the word? Or are there any other strong corporate links in the Midlands to drive yields... Rolls Royce, automotive OEMs etc?
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Like most routes there s a combination of customer segments
there will be Saudi domestic religious like seasonal hajj and umrah as well as the new tourism markets . Historically they are also pretty good at picking up the 6th freedom stuff to places like ISB and KHI from LHR so guess that will be part of the BHX mix as well
there will be Saudi domestic religious like seasonal hajj and umrah as well as the new tourism markets . Historically they are also pretty good at picking up the 6th freedom stuff to places like ISB and KHI from LHR so guess that will be part of the BHX mix as well
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Similar arrangements will apply from Birmingham to Jeddah
True Saudi have stated plans to massively increase general tourism in the coming years; we will see how that goes , beyond the current experiments at Neom Bay I suppose
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Saudia
Like most routes there s a combination of customer segments
there will be Saudi domestic religious like seasonal hajj and umrah as well as the new tourism markets . Historically they are also pretty good at picking up the 6th freedom stuff to places like ISB and KHI from LHR so guess that will be part of the BHX mix as well
there will be Saudi domestic religious like seasonal hajj and umrah as well as the new tourism markets . Historically they are also pretty good at picking up the 6th freedom stuff to places like ISB and KHI from LHR so guess that will be part of the BHX mix as well
It took a while for the MAN service to develop good passenger loads. I expect a BHX service would struggle initially.
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I live in the region. I believe the tourism push is a red herring as far as UK destinations are concerned. Initially the Saudis are looking at Muslim tourists. Given cultural restrictions, I strongly doubt we will ever see mass tourism to Saudi from UK.
It took a while for the MAN service to develop good passenger loads. I expect a BHX service would struggle initially.
It took a while for the MAN service to develop good passenger loads. I expect a BHX service would struggle initially.
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As do Emirates, Turkish, Aer Lingus, Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, SAS, Aegean, TUI, Jet2, Ryanair, EasyJet, Loganair, Aurigny, Blue Islands…..why should Saudia be any different to those?
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No one is going to be permitted to fly if they seem to be "tanked up" from a drinking session in the pre-flight bar. They would probably be denied boarding at the gate just like they would do on any other flight. Neither will they be permitted to consume their duty free alcohol on-board during the flight. Especially if they are flying with Saudia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
As someone who is not a consumer of alcoholic beverages I really don't understand the fascination with the availability of alcohol on-board a flight.
Last edited by Sotonsean; 6th Mar 2023 at 22:50.
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Anybody arriving in Saudi with alcohol is likely to be arrested. Possession is an offence. There has been speculation Neom Bay will have alcohol but the King has duties towards the religious community and the Crown Prince is known to oppose the serving of alcohol even in Neom.
