ISLAMABAD: Saudia has opened its first office in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said on Thursday, expressing hope that the move would improve travel services for people across the region.
Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis travel to Saudi Arabia each year, mainly to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. The Kingdom has also repositioned itself as a global tourism destination, promoting sites such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, Qiddiya, AlUla, and the Red Sea. Founded in 1945, Saudia is the Kingdom’s first and oldest airline and a key pillar of its aviation, tourism, and economic diversification plans under Vision 2030, the strategic framework intended to reduce reliance on oil.
Governor Kundi and Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, inaugurated the airline’s office in the provincial capital, Peshawar, this week, in a step both sides framed as a reflection of the enduring friendship between the two countries. “This marks an important step in improving travel services for the people of our province,” Kundi said in a post on X on Thursday.
The airline has been enjoying a strong run on performance. In May, Saudia ranked first worldwide for departure and arrival punctuality, according to a report by the aviation analytics company Cirium cited by the Saudi Press Agency. That followed Cirium’s January ranking of Saudia as the world’s second-most punctual airline for arrivals in 2025, extending the carrier’s stretch among the industry’s top performers.
Praising the ambassador for helping take Saudi-Pakistani relations to “new heights,” Kundi underscored the need for a Saudi consulate in Peshawar to better serve the people of the province. “I look forward to further deepening this valued partnership for the benefit of our people,” he said.
