www.khaleejtimes.com Saudi Arabian Airlines has introduced new services, which include sending flight tickets within 24 hours and boarding passes within 72 hours by express mail to passengers' addresses anywhere in the Kingdom.

According to the national carrier's Director General Khalid Al Milhem, this service is part of Saudia's new programmes that include making reservations and payments online.

"It's part of a range of services the airline is planning to implement by adopting the concept of e-commerce as a strategic option and facilitating the complete environment for developing the programmes and operating the system in its marketing, technical and administrative areas," explained Milhem. Twenty five travel agencies and Saudia branches have been linked in Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah and Makkah by automated departure system that issues boarding passes for domestic flights.

In the second phase, the system will be implemented in all travel agencies in the Kingdom.

Other projects being implemented include: increasing the number of the self-serve kiosks for reservations, ticketing, payments and obtaining boarding passes in all Saudia offices and large commercial centres.

Saudia will also implement electronic ticketing project next year.

Saudia has signed an agreement with the Saudi Post to carry regular and express mail inside the Kingdom. The agreement comes after several studies were conducted that showed carrying mail within the Kingdom would be good for both the airline and the post office.

"In 2006, more than 1.8 million kilos of local and international mail was transferred from Kingdom destinations," said Fahad bin Hamad, of Saudia Cargo.

Before the agreement, Dallah, a private company owned by Shaikh Saleh Kamel, was the official air carrier for Saudi Post both locally and internationally.

"Saudia is the country's official carrier, so it's a wise step for them to start carrying mail to local destinations in the Kingdom," said Talal A. Radain, a Saudi Post executive in Jeddah.

Saudi Post now has premium mail tracking services, allowing both citizens and expatriates to track the course of their shipments on the postal service's Web site or by utilising an automated telephone system.

Radain said that the mail depositing boxes are also being placed at residential, commercial and industrial areas, and all areas of the Kingdom now have their own postal codes.

This will allow people to get mail at home or closer to home, rather than by going to their nearest post office. Mail is collected from these boxes two or three times a day.

Recently, Saudi Post started the new service called  'Your Mail to Your Door' or 'Wasel' . The new service is designed to promote the country's postal service and is available in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.

"This service is the first of its kind in the Gulf area," said Muhammad Saleh Benten of Saudi Post. "We have created a specialised committee to serve the customers and receive orders from all parts of the region," he added.

"In Jeddah, we have more than 400 customers. In Riyadh, more than 1,000 customers have applied for the service," Radain said.