Saudia

Brand Index Score: 59.1

Headquarters: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Founded: 1945

Saudia is the national airline of Saudi Arabia, operating from Jeddah with its main operational base at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

The airline’s secondary hubs are King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Founded as Saudi Arabian Airlines in September 1945, Saudia was the first fully owned government agency under the control of the Ministry of Defense.

As the third largest airline in the Middle East in terms of revenue, Saudia operates domestic and international flights to more than 95 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Despite travel restrictions and the grounding of flights for extended periods because of the COVID-19 pandemic, residents’ perception of Saudia has made notable improvement as a brand, enough to see it climb two places from last year.

Saudia owns more than 170 planes and operates more than 580 flights per day.

The airline joined the SkyTeam airline alliance in 2012, becoming the alliance’s 16th global member and first member from the Middle East to join one of the three major airline alliances.

Twice the recipient of the World’s Most Improved Airline award by SkyTrax, in 2017 and 2020, Saudia is one of the most experienced airlines in the region and has played a key role in the development of Saudi Arabia.

Saudia sponsored the Williams Formula One team from 1977 till 1984 and was the main sponsor of the 2018 and 2019 Diriyah ePrix.