ISLAMABAD: Saudia has inaugurated its first office in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said on Thursday, hoping the move will help improve travel services for the people of the region.
Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis travel to Saudi Arabia each year, mainly to perform Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. The Kingdom has also repositioned itself as a global tourism hub, promoting destinations such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, Qiddiya, AlUla and the Red Sea.
Founded in 1945, Saudia is the Kingdom’s first and oldest airline and is a key pillar of Saudi Arabia’s aviation, tourism and economic diversification plans under Vision 2030, a strategic development framework intended to cut the Kingdom’s 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 of Peshawar this week, reflecting the enduring friendship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“This (inauguration of Saudia office) marks an important step in improving travel services for the people of our province,” Kundi said in an X post on Thursday.
In May, Saudia ranked first worldwide for departure and arrival punctuality, according to a report by aviation analytics company Cirium cited by the Saudi Press Agency.
The achievement followed Cirium’s January ranking of Saudia as the world’s second-most punctual airline for arrivals in 2025, extending the carrier’s run among the industry’s top performers.
Praising the ambassador for helping take Saudi Arabia-Pakistan relations to “new heights,” the KP governor underscored the need for the establishment of a Saudi consulate in Peshawar to better facilitate the people of the province.
“I look forward to further deepening this valued partnership for the benefit of our people,” he said.
