Saudi Airlines To Boost Flights To Sharm El-Sheikh

Saudi Arabian Airlines is planning to increase the frequency of its flights from the kingdom to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from February 2016.

The move is a show of support by Riyadh to Egypt, whose vital tourism industry is expected to suffer after a Russian passenger plane crashed two weeks ago following take off from Sharm el-Sheikh.

Saudia's director general, Saleh bin Nasser al-Jasser, was quoted as saying by the state news agency SPA that flights to Sharm el-Sheikh from Riyadh and Jeddah would increase by 75 percent from February 2016.

The national carrier currently operates eight flights a week to Sharm el-Sheikh, four from Riyadh and four from Jeddah.

That will increase to 14 flights a week - seven from Riyadh and seven from Jeddah - over the next year, SPA said.

The fallout from the crash of the Russian airliner in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula could cut tourism income from Sharm al-Sheikh by half, the head of the region's travel agents' association said this week.

Saudi Arabia is a major supporter of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and has, along with Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, poured billions of dollars into his country to shore up its economy.