Direct Saudi flights elusive

       Still holding a grudge against Thailand over the gems scandal 20 years ago,Saudi Arabia has frowned on Thailand's renewed bid to reinstate regular direct flight between the two countries.
       Riyadh made its position clear when a team of Thai Airways International executives went to Saudi Arabia recently for talks about resuming non-stop flights between Bangkok and Jeddah.
       Technically, THAI can fly to Saudi Arabia based on the bilateral air services agreement concluded five years ago,which allows the designated national airlines to each operate up to nine flights a week between the two countries.
       The THAI team sensed an unspoken but clear disapproval for its bid due to Saudi authorities' continued dissatisfaction over Thai authorities' handling of the 1989 jewellery theft, according to an industry source.
       Saudi Arabia refuses to resume normal relations with Thailand though many of the culprits have been prosecuted.
       The issue began when Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai cleaner, stole jewellery and valuables worth 500 million baht from the palace of Prince Faisal and escaped to his Lampang home.
       Thai police retrieved most of the stolen valuables and returned them to Saudi Arabia. However, the Saudi palace found the main piece of jewellery, the "Blue Diamond", was fake.
       "There are still a lot of questions left unanswered by Thai authorities and as long as these questions are not addressed,don't expect them to normalise the relationship, especially economically with Thailand," the source noted.
       THAI now realises that it is better off not trying to re-establish service in spite of promising traffic potential.
       And even if it insisted on using technical rights to operate flights, the ensuing problems may not be worth the effort,the source explained.
       Before the talks, the flag carrier was keen to operate four to five flights a week between Bangkok and Jeddah using the wide-bodied Airbus A330-300s.
       Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, which ablebodied Muslims are required to visit at least once in their lifetime.
       The bulk of potential traffic on the route, up to 80%, are Muslims from southern Thailand, Indochina and China making the Hajj pilgrimage and conducting other religious activities year-round.
       About 13,000 Thai pilgrims, mostly from the southern region, travel to Mecca each year. Muslims constitute 8-10% of Thailand's population of 67 million.
       However, THAI has been allowed to a limited number of flights between Thailand and Saudi Arabia on a chartered basis mainly for pilgrims to Mecca.
       During the two-week Hajj that starts on Oct 20, THAI will operate 14 flights carrying 3,000 people to Medina airport close to Mecca, according to sources.