JEDDAH, 21 February 2006 — The Saudi Arabian Airlines has reported a record year for its cargo operation for 2005. This follows the record-breaking effort in its sales and profits in 2005. The airline reported last week that it carried more than 303 million tons of goods, luggage and equipment in 2005 compared to 283 million tons in 2004. This is 45 million tons more than what the airline carried five years ago. This year’s figure shows a growth of 7 percent in the airline’s freight over 2004.
The airline operates a cargo network of 82 local and international cities which include 11 international permanent destinations, two in North America, three in East Asia, two in South Asia, two in Africa and two in Europe. The destinations are New York, Houston, Brussels, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New Delhi, Dhaka, Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Bangkok and the Belgian city of Ostend.
“The company increased its efforts to gain more share in the international cargo market last year. The company strategy was to benefit from the expansion in international trade between the Kingdom and other countries,” said Fahd Al-Hammad, the airline’s vice president of cargo and airmail.
Last week, the airline participated in Air Freight Asia 2006 Exhibition in Shanghai to showcase its cargo services to business organizations. This year’s exhibition was organized in close cooperation with the annual “Cargoweek” of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).