Saudi Arabian Airlines receives Airbus A330 plane

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) received last Wednesday a new Airbus A330-300 aircraft at King Abdulaziz International Airport, the company said in a statement.

The airline signed a deal with Airbus in 2015 to buy 50 airplanes, including 20 A330s, most of which will serve domestic flights.

The new A330 is the third plane received by Saudia this year, after a Boeing B777 airplane provided with new suites for first class passengers, and an Airbus A320neo delivered in early January.

Last month, Saudia director general Saleh Al Jasser said the carrier would add 30 new planes to its service this year, state news agency SPA reported.

These include seven Boeing B787 Dreamliners, five B777-300ER planes, ten A330-300 aircraft and eight A320neo aircraft.

The delivery of the new planes is part of Saudia's ongoing program to upgrade its fleet and double its size to 200 aircraft by 2020.

The airline will also ground 18 planes this year under the modernization program.