RIYADH: Fursan Travel and Bahrain Air jointly celebrated the launch of Bahrain Air’s inaugural flight from Riyadh on Wednesday with an announcement to operate four flights a week to the Saudi capital, the carrier’s 18th destination.

Addressing a press conference onboard Bahrain Air’s Airbus 320, Roger Pfund, chief executive of Fursan Travel, said, “This new strategic partnership with Bahrain Air would deliver more choice and value for money for passengers traveling from the Kingdom to Bahrain.”

The airline, represented by Fursan as its GSA, will operate two flights on Sundays and one each on Wednesdays and Fridays, Pfund added. Ibrahim A. Alhamer, Bahrain Air’s managing director, said his airline was committed to offering full support to Fursan Travel. Asked about prospects of increasing flights, Alhamer said that “Riyadh is the capital of the entire Arab world. We will build up on this and we hope to operate daily flight from Riyadh in the near future. We will also be operating a daily flight from Jeddah to Bahrain in near the future.” Alhamer added: “Bahrain Air offers safe and reliable service to customers.” The airline gives convenient connections to 19 current and future destinations across the region. He pointed out that the airline had finalized plans to operate to Bangladesh and Pakistan in the near future, while it had been playing a major role in linking Bahrain with the destinations in the GCC, Levant, Africa and Asia.

Prominent among those present at the event were Ashley Hogan, head of Fursan Change Management; Mohammed Qamar Hassan, chief of Fursan GSA, and Tariq Al-Omar, Bahrain Air sales manager, besides a number of guests from travel and tourism industry.