Air Arabia has announced 20 additional flights to Jeddah for Umrah pilgrimage. The special schedule, to be operational between July 18, 2006 and August 12, 2006, will be available for GCC nationals and passengers with Umrah visas only.

The additional service to Jeddah for Umrah will take off from Sharjah around mid-night and return from Jeddah to arrive back in Sharjah early in the morning.

Regular flights to Jeddah will continue to be operational every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, taking off from Sharjah at 0825 hours local time, arriving in Jeddah at 1010 hours and return flight taking off at 1055 Jeddah time, to arrive in Sharjah at 1435 local time.

The increased schedule to Jeddah is part of the airline’s concerted efforts to offer affordable travel and provide adequate capacity for those who wish to perform Umrah rituals, making it more accessible.

The starting fare for these special Umrah flights to Jeddah is AED 610 one way, exclusive of taxes and surcharges and will be valid till August 12, the airline announced.

In his comments on the additional flights for Umrah, Mr. Adel Ali, CEO of Air Arabia, said, ‘We have decided to have additional frequency on the Sharjah-Jeddah sector to cope with the extra demand for high capacity during the Umrah season. The decision to add the extra flights for Umrah reflects our commitment to the people of this region to provide them with affordable travel and presenting them an opportunity to perform Umrah rituals.’

He added, ‘As we increase the ease and accessibility for more people to make this sacred journey to the Holy land, Air Arabia would like to express its gratitude to the government and Civil Aviation Authority in Saudi Arabia for their support and assistance in granting us the rights for the flights.

‘As we grow in the region, we remain unswerving in our commitment to offer our services to a wider base of customers. Needless to say, we hope to add more flights on our routes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the demand for affordable travel increases.’

Current Air Arabia destinations include Aleppo and Damascus (Syria); Alexandria, Assiut, Luxor and Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt); Amman (Jordan); Astana and Almaty (Kazakhstan); Bahrain; Beirut (Lebanon); Colombo (Sri Lanka); Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh (KSA), Doha (Qatar); Istanbul (Turkey); Kabul (Afghanistan); Khartoum (Sudan); Kuwait; Jaipur, Kochi Mumbai and Nagpur (India); Muscat (Oman); Sana’a (Yemen); Sharjah (UAE) and Tehran (Iran).
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