RIYADH, 10 May 2005 — Ibrahim Al-Blaihy, a new member of the Shoura Council, has criticized Saudi Arabian Airlines in remarks to the council. He described the airline’s services as “awful” and as failing to “meet the required standards in all aspects.”
The Shoura’s new member said, “The company suffers from performance deficiency despite its enormous subsidy from the government. The deficiency is due to a lack of competition which means it does not try to improve its services.”
Al-Blaihy explained to Arab News that the government spends billions on the airline as it is considered a service sector.
He commented, “That is illogical. The airline is financially dependent on the government. In fact, it should be a source of income for the country, not the opposite. It cannot be compared to the health sector or other service sectors that provide services free of charge. Saudia has drained billions from the country’s treasury,” he said to Arab News.
“If there were other national airlines, the level of Saudia’s performance would increase tremendously. With no competition, Saudia’s level of performance is declining. It is similar to the situation with Saudi Telecom. Telecom has improved its services since Etihad Etisalat has come into the market.”
Arab News tried to give Saudia the chance to respond to Al-Blaihy’s criticisms. Though contacted at its Jeddah offices, the airline was unable to provide a response, saying it might take a week or two for answers to be approved by the company’s managers.
According to Dr. Khaled Ben-Bakr, director general of Saudia, the airline made a record revenue of more than SR14 billion and profit of SR440 million last year.
