Saudia ‘World’s Most Improved Airline’ at the 2024 Skytrax Awards

Saudia Airlines, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, was named the World’s Most Improved Airline at the 2024 Skytrax Awards.

The airline also won the award for Best Economy Class Airline Catering.

Skytrax is an international air transport rating organization based in London, United Kingdom.

It is the entity responsible for organizing the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards each year.

According to the Skytrax website, the World’s Most Improved Airline award “reflects an airline’s Quality improvement across the entire Awards programme, which analyzes an airline’s change in global rating and its performance improvements in different award categories.”

The ‘SHINE’ transformation program

2024 marks Saudia’s third time winning as the world’s most-improved airline.

From its global ranking of 82nd position in 2017, Saudia rose to the 23rd position in 2023, moving up further to the 20th position in 2024.

Saudia’s improvement is largely due to the results of its ‘SHINE’ transformation program, which aimed to enhance its operational efficiency and improve passengers’ overall experience across all customer touchpoints.

‘SHINE’ was initially launched in 2021, part of the airline’s transformation journey which began in 2015.

Under ‘SHINE’, Saudia embraced and utilized different state-of-the-art technologies to enhance its products and services.

Because of ‘SHINE’, Saudia was among the 2023 top ten global airlines for On-Time Performance (OTP) for six months.

In May 2024, the airline was among the top five for arrival On-Time Performance (OTP-A) and first for departure On-Time Performance (OTP-D).

Always striving to do better

According to Engr. Ibrahim Al-Omar, the Director General of Saudia Group, the 2024 Skytrax awards are a testament to the airline’s passion for excellence.

“These awards reaffirm Saudia’s dedication to excellence and our commitment to achieving the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services,” Al-Omar said.

“By adhering to the highest quality standards in the aviation industry, we are continuously prioritizing service innovation, by enhancing the guest experience, and optimizing operational efficiency.”

“This unwavering dedication to excellence has positioned Saudia as a leading global connector, bridging the world to the Kingdom to serve a wide range of sectors including business, tourism, entertainment, sports, Hajj, and Umrah.”

Meanwhile, Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, took the opportunity to acknowledge Saudia’s efforts.

Plaisted remarked, “We congratulate Saudia on this fabulous achievement and this remarkable success.”

“To be recognized for the change and quality improvement is [a] testament to the hard work by the management and staff at Saudia and this recognition should be a source of pride.”

What’s ahead

In the coming years, Saudia aims to land more top Skytrax rankings.

In particular, the airline has entered new agreements with aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus for 154 new airplanes.

Saudia is also doing a major revamp of its economy and business-class seats, as well as upgrading in-flight entertainment systems to the highest-resolution screens and integrating high-speed in-flight internet.

It is also known for offering a free Saudi transit visa for travelers passing through Saudi Arabia.

In a post on X, the airline wrote, “We fly towards the heights with you and with you.”

“We celebrate our third win of the ‘World’s Most Improved Airline’ award at the Skytrax World Airline Awards.”

“We are proud of your vote for Saudia.”