MAKKAH, 27 November 2002 — The board of directors of Saudi Arabian Airlines, which met here on Monday night under the chairmanship of Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, reviewed the final report on the airline’s privatization plan.
Dr. Khaled bin Bakr, director general of Saudia, said the report covering legal and financial aspects was prepared by four international companies. He said the privatization committee will meet with the four firms next month to discuss details of the plan.
The legal aspects were studied by the London-based international lawyers Clifford Chance and financial matters by BNP Paribas bank in France. Two other firms, KBMG and SH, specialists in aviation, conducted a study on the whole privatization plan.
Saudi Arabian Airlines was one of the 20 major sectors enlisted by the government recently for privatization in a major move to sell off state-owned corporations.
The Saudia board meeting approved the airline’s budget for 2003 and endorsed its financial report for 2001. Bakr said he expected a six percent increase in revenues over the past year.
The meeting, which was attended by Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah, assistant minister of defense and aviation for civil aviation affairs, as well as the newly appointed board members, heard a detailed report from the director general on Saudia’s performance.
The airline, according to Bakr, transported more than 14 million passengers last year, two million more than the previous five years. Bakr also briefed the meeting on the airline’s plan for this year’s Haj and Umrah seasons.
Saudia has already signed agreements with foreign airlines and Haj authorities to transport 893,000 pilgrims from 70 international stations. It has also taken steps to transport 2.4 million Umrah pilgrims this year.
Bakr said the meeting approved Saudia’s plan to establish a full-fledged training facility as part of Prince Sultan Academy for Aviation Sciences which was opened in Jeddah recently.
He said tenders will be called for constructing a building for technical and administrative training and marketing departments.
The board meeting also reviewed the airline’s golden service program and plan to improve reservation service all over the Kingdom.
“There is a plan to provide a unified toll free number to receive calls of clients from all over the Kingdom,” the director general said.Economists and businessmen have welcomed a recent Cabinet decision to privatize 20 vital economic sectors, saying it will strengthen the economy and attract national funds invested abroad.
Analysts said the major selloff plan would help the government generate tens of billions of dollars required to pay a staggering public debt. “It is a bold and calculated step in the history of Saudi economy,” stated Yaseen Al-Jefry, an economist based in Jeddah.
