The Korea Herald

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Korean Air to resume direct flights to Saudi Arabia

By Korea Herald

Published : Sept. 25, 2012 - 20:35

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South Korea’s top air carrier Korean Air Lines Co. said Tuesday that it will resume direct flight services to Saudi Arabia in November after a 15-year break.

Korean Air said it will offer three weekly flights to the Saudi capital of Riyadh and the country’s largest port city of Jeddah starting from Nov. 9 with the 218-seat A330-200 passenger jet.

The flag carrier operated direct flight services to Saudi Arabia from 1977 to 1997.

The planned resumption of direct flights to Saudi Arabia is designed to meet possible growing demand for travel to the Middle East by South Korean engineers and construction workers, according to Korean Air.

In February, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said there will be a “second Middle East boom” as countries there plan massive construction and infrastructure projects.

South Korea sent tens of thousands of engineers and workers to the Middle East during a construction boom in the 1970s.

Saudi Arabia is South Korea’s fourth-largest trading partner after China, the United States and Japan. (Yonhap News)