Birmingham: Saudia Flight Status, Hub News & Discussion

[Nethercote2019]

Saudia- As a tiny bit of a positive from this, i hope that this decision will help Egyptair from BHX

 

[RichL]

I give up with it I really do, it makes me feel so despondent.

But hey lets hope there's a new Ryanair route to some random airport in Spain to make up for it eh...

 

[nwoody2001]

I give up with it I really do, it makes me feel so despondent.

But hey lets hope there's a new Ryanair route to some random airport in Spain to make up for it eh...

Why are you so despondent of the fact that Saudia have flights on Sale for flight from BHX-JED?

Egyptair have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Good ✅
Saudia have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Bad ❌

The Brummie mindset is so depressingly depressing.... and yes i see the irony of this statement 🤣

 

[gulftraveller]

If the route is to be seasonal (not clear yet), would they not be better serving the winter season? The loads have been stronger in winter. All the ME carriers see a reduction in traffic in high summer (though at least the route will be operating for Hajj).

 

[A330]

Why are you so despondent of the fact that Saudia have flights on Sale for flight from BHX-JED?

Egyptair have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Good ✅
Saudia have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Bad ❌

The Brummie mindset is so depressingly depressing.... and yes i see the irony of this statement 🤣

Why are you so despondent of the fact that Saudia have flights on Sale for flight from BHX-JED?

Egyptair have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Good ✅
Saudia have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Bad ❌

The Brummie mindset is so depressingly depressing.... and yes i see the irony of this statement 🤣

I can relate to RichL although I haven't reached despondent levels yet!

It's hugely frustrating. There is a huge demand to Jeddah for Umrah trips and the airline was another option for connecting passengers from BHX. A colleague in the office was booked on the Saudia travelling on the first Sunday of the summer holidays and their bookings were moved to MAN. He said they were party of 28 people. We are not talking about an additional cost of £25 for a coach trip up the M6 with a cabin bag only. There can be a lot of luggage to move and booking transport adds several hundreds to the trip not mention the added journey times. In some cases, as we read above its not worth the added expense and hassle. Sad to see.

I'm moved on from my wish list and spotter days and learned to accept markets change which results in lost or reduced services. We have no option but to accept SV's decision to consolidate at Heathrow and Manchester. If I'm correct Gatwick did not return in S26? That said, it's a destination that can easily support a non stop service on a widebody. As far as I know, the religious trips to Saudia is not a declining market.

It's great to see Egyptair starting, they have always been very competitive to Jeddah and often a preferred option for travel agents selling Umrah packages. However, I firmly believe the market is big enough to support a non stop option. I hope Saudia do return and will remain positive despite the routes being postponed twice...

 

[nwoody2001]

I can't imagine the plan is for SV to go seasonal. They only tend to offer seasonal routes to holiday destinations from Saidi and BHX defo isnt that.... I suspect the push-back is to give the route the best chance when relaunched.

Based on the pax figs for the BHX-JED Route on the 3 years the route operated, the busiest months have been August to January with average month pax of circa 6,500 pax monthly. This then dips from Feb-April to circa 5,500 pax monthly, and then the lowest quarter is May-July with pax around 4,000-4,500 monthly.

The point being , relaunching at the start of November as per the original plan, you have already missed half of your peak travel months. Assuming a route takes a few months to rebuild after launch, as soon as the route settles, the pax figs will start dropping. A relaunch in April means you establish during the quieter times ready for the summer peak.

I can relate to RichL although I haven't reached despondent levels yet!

It's hugely frustrating. There is a huge demand to Jeddah for Umrah trips and the airline was another option for connecting passengers from BHX. A colleague in the office was booked on the Saudia travelling on the first Sunday of the summer holidays and their bookings were moved to MAN. He said they were party of 28 people. We are not talking about an additional cost of £25 for a coach trip up the M6 with a cabin bag only. There can be a lot of luggage to move and booking transport adds several hundreds to the trip not mention the added journey times. In some cases, as we read above its not worth the added expense and hassle. Sad to see.

I'm moved on from my wish list and spotter days and learned to accept markets change which results in lost or reduced services. We have no option but to accept SV's decision to consolidate at Heathrow and Manchester. If I'm correct Gatwick did not return in S26? That said, it's a destination that can easily support a non stop service on a widebody. As far as I know, the religious trips to Saudia is not a declining market.

It's great to see Egyptair starting, they have always been very competitive to Jeddah and often a preferred option for travel agents selling Umrah packages. However, I firmly believe the market is big enough to support a non stop option. I hope Saudia do return and will remain positive despite the routes being postponed twice...

You speak like the route has been cancelled. Actually looking at the LGW-JED route is encouraging.

There is not a single flight scheduled from LGW-JED showing on the Saudia website up to the end of the booking window suggesting they have cancelled that route. Proof they are willing to cancel a route and take it off the schedule. BHX-JED is on the website and bookable 3x Weekly. If they weren't intending to return, why wouldn't they just do what they did with the LGW-JED route and take it off the website?

Yes things can change between now and April, but as of now, I have no reason to doubt that Saudia plan to return to BHX.

 

[Iron Duck]

They are gone let’s just accept it ! No point in kicking that realisation down the road when summer 2027 is also taken off sale.

If they were waiting for summer, why have they just added extra flights into Manchester from January? Sorry, but it’s a futile hope.

 

[RichL]

Why are you so despondent of the fact that Saudia have flights on Sale for flight from BHX-JED?

Egyptair have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Good ✅
Saudia have flights on sale from Birmingham but aren't yet operating = Bad ❌

The Brummie mindset is so depressingly depressing.... and yes i see the irony of this statement 🤣

I thought they had been cancelled?

 

[nwoody2001]

Nope, just the restart has been pushed back to 1st April 2027. Bookable on the website 3x weekly!

 

[rollo]

Not cancelled Rich : Egypt Air starts in a few weeks at 4 weekly and Saudi fully bookable at 3 weeklly commencing April - as it actually stands today anything else is conjecture. Meanwhile Emirates and Qatar back to normal all depends really on the shenanigans in the Middle East.

 

[nwoody2001]

They are gone let’s just accept it ! No point in kicking that realisation down the road when summer 2027 is also taken off sale.

If they were waiting for summer, why have they just added extra flights into Manchester from January? Sorry, but it’s a futile hope.

And if they cancelled the route, why would they just remove it from the website like that have with LGW flights? Lord, im sure some people on this forum just manifest negativity out of boredom!

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

Nope, just the restart has been pushed back to 1st April 2027. Bookable on the website 3x weekly!

Have the airline or airport said what the reason was they have cancelled the route at winter?

 

[AdamHussain07]

I will say, is that all I got, was an email from Booking.com (where I had booked my flights from), notifying me of a change in the itinerary. From the airline website itself, it was as follows:

"Flight Change
We apologize that your flight SV 250 from Birmingham to Jeddah has changed. We have alternative flights available to select from at no additional cost."

I was told nothing about the suspension on the app, the only thing I got faced with was the LHR change. and the statement above. Don’t think this is anything too useful…