So all good reasons why the MAN service shouldn't work?

The Saudi's have deep pockets and are spending big money on promoting tourism - as clearly stated in the press release posted by Matt995.

I feel sure the target is connecting traffic and getting a share of the action that Qatar and Emirates enjoy.

Dry flights will be an issue for some, but as I never drink alcohol when flying wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

Saudi have good connections with BAe and that creates quite a bit of high value traffic.

Very likely but it needs more than that to make a success of the service.

Saudia surely know what they're doing and have done their research.

​​​​​​​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?

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

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?

This - at Manchester each flight is full of military hardware in the belly and Bae Systems personnel up front with the rear seats sold via numerous regional ethnic travel agents and consolidators with a few with onward connections to Pakistan and Bangladesh ( however small numbers to be quite honest)

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

Saudia
 

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.

Saudi has already spoken about plans to introduce areas with fewer restrictions such as the Neom Bay project. Most people would never have expected Qatar to become a tourist destination or host a World Cup. With enough money they can do it.

The world demand for oil is going to get less in the future?? So all of the oil rich countries are going to need new ways to generate revenue…..

Those carriers you've mentioned have established themselves over the years, Saudi is an unknown quantity.

You won`t have any people drunk on flight

Betcha. Those wh can't do without alcohol for 8 hours will just tanker up in the pre-flight bar and drink their DF booze in flight.

Must try and book next Blue Island flight to the Middle East. Lol. Presumably stopping at every airport lamp post en route.:)

I for one wouldn't want to arrive in the Kingdom p***** out of my mind
They have a robust set of rules - a flogging might be part of it

Are you being serious or is it just humour?

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.

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.

QR
 

Fantastic news, let's see what the schedule and aircraft type is. Am really pleased for BHX, well done to the routes team for enticing QR back!