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AIRPORT EXPANSION A number of initiatives are set to increase capacity
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world’s largest airport by total land area – serves the eastern metropolitan areas of Jubail and Greater Dammam, which comprises the cities of Dammam, Al Khobar and Dhahran. The airport is served by more than 30 regional and international carriers: Emirates; Etihad Airways; KLM; Lufthansa; Air India; Air Arabia; and Turkish Airlines, while Saudia flies to around 25 domestic and international destinations from here.
INCREASING COMPETITION With GACA granting operating licences to selected foreign airlines in December 2012, the sector is poised for greater competition. The first result of this will be Qatar Airways’ Saudi Arabian venture, Al Maha Airways, beginning internal services by mid-2014, with Riyadh-Jeddah likely to be its first route. According to Qatar Airways Chief
Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker, Al Maha will fly with 10 Airbus aircraft in the first year, before adding 10 to 15 annually until it reaches at least 50 planes. “There is huge demand,” Al Baker. “It’s a big market and there’s room for the fittest.”
at airports in the kingdom. Plans to increase the capacity of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh from 17 million to 35 million include the construction of a new Terminal 5 and the redevelopment of Terminal 4, which is currently not in use. Te new Terminal 4 is expected to be complete in 2018. Te airport will also be linked with the capital’s new Metro system that will provide an alternate means of reaching the city centre. Te airport at Jeddah will also be expanded to handle 80 million passengers, while there are also major plans for regional airports in the cities of Jazan, Abha and Alqasseem.
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Te desired number of planes planned for the fleet within Al Maha airline, the Qatar Airways-owned carrier set to begin operations in Saudi in 2014
Saudi Gulf Airlines (SGA), launched
by Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al Qahtani and Sons, a consortium of privately owned Saudi companies, is expected to take to the skies by the end of 2014. SGA will be based in the eastern port of
Dammam and also has plans to operate regional and international flights in the future, subject to regulatory approval. In a two-phase policy, SGA has announced it will initially begin with three to four flights a day to Riyadh and Jeddah from Dammam, then expand to other domestic routes such as Abha, Tabuk, Qassim and Madinah in the second phase of its operations and finally expand internationally with a network covering Africa and the Near and Middle East. An increasing number of international
low-cost regional carriers now fly to Saudi Arabian cities. Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and budget carrier flynas have been providing domestic air services in the kingdom. Both state-run carriers fly between Riyadh and Jeddah almost hourly and the other cities too have several
flights a day connecting to the two most important Saudi cities and themselves. Since its inception in 2007, flynas has
expanded its network to eight Saudi cities and made international forays to Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, UAE, Pakistan and Turkey.
CHARTER AND LUXURY AIR TRAVEL With half of the entire charter flight market in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is home to some of the most prominent luxury and charter aircraft operators. Saudia itself operates its own charter programme, though most of it is geared towards meeting the huge visitor numbers that descend on the country for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Private jets for business travellers
are provided by Saudi Private Aviation, Saudia’s luxury jet arm, which partnered with the Comlux Aviation Group in 2011 to develop the VIP charter market. With their bases in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, the two entities together offer group travellers, corporate houses and private clients access to a VIP fleet that flies across the region and beyond.
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