JAKARTA ~ Budget carrier Lion Air will begin regular flights to Saudi Arabia next year, company officials said.

“An agreement was reached a couple of months ago with the Saudi government, which wants more Indonesian airlines to serve the country,” company president director Rusdi Kirana said.

He said flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia was currently the only Indonesian airline with regular flights to Saudi Arabia.

The market is fuelled by hajj pilgrims from Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, as well as workers and tourists.

All Indonesian airlines are banned from flying in the European Union due to safety concerns.

Twenty six people were killed when a Lion Air MD-82 plane skidded off a runway after landing at an airport in the central Java city of Solo in 2004.