Saudi Arabia’s National Air Services Company, the parent company of low-cost carrier nasair, has launched a hajj and umrah unit to tap into the kingdom’s lucrative religious tourism market.
The division aims to weave air fares into pilgrimages organised by local hajj and umrah firms for foreign travellers, deputy CEO Bandar Al Mohanna said in an emailed statement.
The company transported more than 70,000 pilgrims from India, Pakistan Cameroon and Senegal in the last two hajj seasons, Al Mohanna said.
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An estimated 2.5 million Muslims undertook the annual hajj pilgrimage in 2010. The total number of tourists to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina is expected to rise from 12 million a year to almost 17 million by 2025.
Saudi Arabia’s Commission for Tourism and Antiquities said in November it expected revenue from tourism to reach $17.6bn in 2010 and almost double again by 2015.
Nasair plans to launch three new routes to Istanbul, Antioch and Adana in the first quarter, and will begin twice-weekly flights to Sohag, Egypt from January 11.
National Air Services is 37 percent owned by Kingdom Holding Co.
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