Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s national carrier SAUDIA, plans to launch a free four-day visa upon purchasing a ticket to enter the Kingdom for tourism and allow them to perform Umrah, local media reported.
The company’s spokesman, Abdullah Al-Shahrani, said on Wednesday that Saudi Airlines will soon announce the “Your Ticket is a Visa” program, which enables travellers on board its flights to enter Saudi Arabia for a period of 96 hours.
Those coming to Saudi Arabia, through this ticket, can roam around the regions of the Kingdom and perform Umrah. The Saudi official did not indicate the date of launching the visa issuance service.
He stated in a statement to Arabic daily Okaz, that when the traveller purchases a ticket, they will be asked whether or not they require a visa. If they indicate that they do, they will be redirected to fill out a form and complete some procedures, not exceeding three minutes long.
He explained that the reason for issuing this service is that many Islamic communities want Saudi Arabia to be a stopping point for them, especially the city of Jeddah, to perform the rituals of Umrah, and then complete their journey.
The new service will extend to all international airports within the country.
Meanwhile, the official said that SAUDIA plans to increase its international flights by 40 per cent and introduce 500,000 additional seats on its domestic flights this year.
