NEOM and SAUDIA Offer Regular International Flights from NEOM Bay Airport

NEOM Bay Airport. (SPA)
NEOM Bay Airport. (SPA)
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NEOM and SAUDIA Offer Regular International Flights from NEOM Bay Airport

NEOM Bay Airport. (SPA)
NEOM Bay Airport. (SPA)

NEOM and SAUDIA Airlines announced on Monday a strategic partnership to begin offering weekly international flights to selected destinations from NEOM Bay Airport (NUM), marking the inauguration of commercial services at the airport.

SAUDIA will operate direct flights to selected regional and international destinations. SAUDIA will also begin with weekly flights to Dubai International Airport by the end of June 2022, with plans to expand to London soon thereafter.

Aircraft traveling to the selected destinations will have a joint NEOM-SAUDIA livery, showcasing the NEOM brand to the world.

NEOM sits at the crossroads of three continents, with 40% of the world accessible within a four-hour flight.

NEOM’s mobility strategy will see the further evolution of air travel to NEOM in the coming years, supporting its vision to shape the future of air mobility through seamless and customer-centric connectivity, rooted in cutting-edge technology.

Director General of SAUDIA Ibrahim Al-Omar said: “This partnership is in line with SAUDIA’s ambition to support Saudi Vision 2030 by increasing passenger traffic domestically and regionally, as well as expanding our connections to global destinations.”

“As NEOM continues to progress, demand for travel to there is only increasing, making it a natural addition to our list of destinations.”

Chief Executive Officer of NEOM Nadhmi Al-Nasr said: "NEOM Bay Airport is a key enabler of NEOM’s development, facilitating efficient access to NEOM for residents and business partners, and drastically improving the ease with which NEOM can connect with people from all over the world.”

“This is an exciting step in our journey to provide the best possible air connectivity to NEOM and a signal of our rapid growth.”

Increasing direct connectivity to NEOM is an important step in promoting the further development of the ambitious giga-project, which is being completed by an impressive team of local, regional and international experts. NEOM currently has over 1,500 employees representing over 65 nationalities, and numerous business partners from all over the world.



Russia’s Pipeline Gas Exports to Europe up 13% in 2024, Calculations Show

Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)
Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russia’s Pipeline Gas Exports to Europe up 13% in 2024, Calculations Show

Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)
Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)

Pipeline gas exports by Russian energy giant Gazprom to Europe increased by 13% in 2024 to around 32 billion cubic meters (bcm), Reuters calculations showed on Saturday, slightly more than the 31 bcm supplied to China.

Gazprom's average daily pipeline exports have been stable this December, at 91.3 million cubic meters (mcm), in comparison with November, but rose by 7% from December 2023, calculations based on data from European gas transmission group Entsog and Gazprom's daily reports on gas transit via Ukraine showed.

Its total supply to the European Union stood at about 2.8 bcm in December, the preliminary data showed, including 1.5 bcm, or 49.2 mcm per day, sent via Turkey.

Gas transit via Ukraine has reached around 1.3 bcm this month, or 42.1 mcm per day, almost unchanged from November despite Russia halting gas exports to Austria's OMV in mid-November over a contractual dispute.

Gazprom's exports to Europe via Ukraine this year have reached about 15 bcm.

The transit agreement between Moscow and Kyiv expires in the end of the year and is unlikely to continue as Ukraine has repeatedly said it was unwilling to do so amid the military conflict.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no time left this year to sign a new Ukrainian gas transit deal, and laid the blame firmly on Ukraine for refusing to extend the agreement that brings gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Gazprom, which has not published its own monthly statistics since the start of 2023, did not respond to a request for comment.

Russia supplied about 63.8 bcm of gas to Europe by various routes in 2022, Gazprom data and Reuters calculations show. That fell by 55.6% to 28.3 bcm last year.

At their peak in 2018-2019, annual flows to Europe reached between 175 bcm and 180 bcm.