AlUla, Oct 8, 2022, SPA -- The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and "flynas" airline have launched the first direct flights between Cairo International Airport and AlUla International Airport. RCU aims to enhance AlUla’s connectivity with various international and local destinations, as well as strengthening it as a global logistics station in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since August 2019, AlUla International Airport has witnessed a number of development projects to keep pace with the expected growth of air traffic in the region, as a global destination, and in line with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and in line with the identity of the governorate in order to highlight the civilizational, cultural and environmental aspects. The development work included doubling the AlUla International Airport's capacity of 100,000 passengers to 400,000 passengers annually, while the total area of the airport reached about 2.4 million square meters. Philip Jones, Head of RCU Marketing and Destination said, "Today we celebrate the launch of a direct flight line between two cities that share the cultural and historical importance of each," "We will continue to build a vibrant and sustainable system for the tourism infrastructure in AlUla, while increasing the flight capacity of several local and international airports to provide more experiences for visitors amidst the cultural natural environment.” On this occasion, flynas confirmed that the launch of its first flights between Cairo and AlUla comes in support of the Kingdom’s plans to turn AlUla into one of the preferred tourist destinations for local and international travelers, praising the efforts and cooperation of RCU with flynas to achieve a common goal of enhancing AlUla’s presence on the international tourism map in a way that contributes to transforming the Kingdom into a global tourist destination in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. flynas will operate two weekly round-trip flights between AlUla International Airport and Cairo International Airport, on Saturdays and Thursdays of each week. --SPA 02:06 LOCAL TIME 23:06 GMT 0001 www.spa.gov.sa/w1795342