In a move aimed at facilitating travel for thousands of pilgrims, Dubai-based Emirates Airline has announced the start of extra flights to Jeddah for the forthcoming Ramadan month.
Emirates will operate the additional flights to Jeddah, the closest airport base to the Holy City of Mecca, between 20th September and 5th November, and also revise its existing flight schedules to suit Iftar timings.
Consequently, Emirates’ scheduled flight EK 803 will depart Dubai at a re-scheduled time of 18:45 hours, arriving in Jeddah at 20:30 hours. Return flight, EK 804, bound for Dubai will take off from Jeddah at a revised time of 22:00 hours.
Expressing his gratitude, Hamad Obaidalla, Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Gulf, Middle East & Iran, said: “Omra during the Ramadan month brings millions of pilgrims into the Holy Land, and Emirates is extremely delighted with and thankful to the authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for granting it additional frequencies to cater to the increased passenger movement during this peak season.”
Providing further assistance to pilgrims for the organisation of their travel requirements, the airline’s 24-hour hotline number 800-8-971-487 will operate round the clock, offering customers direct access to a travel consultant at any time of the day.
The toll free hotline facility, manned in Arabic and English, will be equipped with additional manpower over and above the existing team of highly-trained travel consultants, and will aid customers to book, re-confirm and alter their flight schedules.
World-class carrier, Emirates, recently fortified its presence in Saudi Arabia with the introduction of a sixth weekly service each to Jeddah and Riyadh. At present, the airline operates 17 flights into three gateways – six to Riyadh; six to Jeddah and five to Dammam – using a mixed fleet of Boeing 777-200 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
