JEDDAH: The Saudi market stands on top of the Gulf markets for most of the international air carriers looking for expanding their services and profits, despite the rising cost of operations caused by high oil prices.
JEDDAH: The Saudi market stands on top of the Gulf markets for most of the international air carriers looking for expanding their services and profits, despite the rising cost of operations caused by high oil prices.
According to Helmut Wolfel, vice president of Lufthansa German Airlines, the Saudi travel sector is expanding rapidly and growing at an average of 9 percent each year.
Asked about Lufthansa's offers for Saudi travelers, he said the German carrier was targeting more Saudi passengers for travel from the Kingdom to Munich and Frankfurt.
"We are offering special rates for travelers from the Kingdom, starting from SR2,900, for bookings until the middle of April," he added.
He said Lufthansa offered a range of packages, and travel agencies and tour operators would help them select the best among them to suit their requirement.
As regards the impact of the rising oil prices on the profitability of airlines in general and Lufthansa in particular, Wolfel said that oil prices are one of the primary concerns of all airlines.
"Profitability in running the air operations is one of the main concerns of all international carriers. This is a challenge facing even Lufthansa despite its status as a major global carrier," he said.
"In the current scenario, we have some budgetary problems across Europe, however, we have no such problem for operating our services to and from Saudi Arabia," he added.
Stefan Loecherbach, Lufthansa's director for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, said the carrier operated ten weekly flights from Germany to the Kingdom.
Loecherbach added that Lufthansa is the only European carrier that covered all major gateways in Saudi Arabia.
Regarding the marketing strategy for attracting more Saudi visitors to Germany, he said Lufthansa has launched Lufthansa holiday.com enabling passengers to buy the packages online. "Families are our major target group, followed by students and companies."
"We are also promoting medical tourism, as Germany especially excels in the health care sector," he said.
Source: Arab News, 2. Apr. 2012