SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES SERVING THE KINGDOM

Flying for more than 70 years, Saudi Arabian Airlines has a fascinating history. Jozef Mols traces its journey over the decades.

For thousands of years the immense, desolate Arabian subcontinent with its shifting sands was only linked by the trails of camel caravans. But a far faster mode of transport arrived at the end of World War Two.

The history of Saudi Arabian Airlines can be traced back to 1945 when American President Franklin D Roosevelt went to Saudi Arabia to visit King Abdul Aziz. ‘FDR’ offered the king (who, like Roosevelt, had problems walking) a wheelchair – and a Douglas C-47, the military version of the DC-3.

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