Saudi Arabian Airlines is the national airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. It operates scheduled domestic and international more than 70 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and international charter flights especially in times of Ramadan and Hajj.
The airline’s main airport is Jeddah King Abdulaziz Airport, also highlighting King Khalid Airport in Riyadh and Dammam King Fahd. The new Dammam airport was opened for commercial use on November 28, 1999, and was once used exclusively military. Saudi Arabian Airlines is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.
When U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave to King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud with a Douglas DC-3 in 1945, the government saw the door open to begin the development of civil aviation in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian Airlines was founded in September 1946 as a government agency under the Ministry of Defense control, although the agency had a management agreement with the U.S. airline TWA.