JEDDAH, 14 February 2007 — Khaled Al-Mulhim, director-general of Saudi Arabian Airlines, has urged Saudi businessmen to form alliances to participate in Saudia’s privatization program, especially in the managing of services such as catering, air cargo and ground services.
Saudi airlines will be transformed into a holding company in the last phase of its privatization program and will have a group of companies under its administration, said Al-Mulim, who made his comments while receiving members of the Manara Business Association.
He said the company’s subsidiaries would deal with investment and the management of catering, air cargo and ground services and the Prince Sultan Academy for Aviation Sciences.
The businessmen watched a presentation of the airline’s privatization plan and were briefed on the airline’s 10-year strategy that aims to meet the requirements of the Kingdom’s economy and face competition. The group was also briefed on the company’s marketing plans.
Earlier, Al-Mulhim said the airline, which is facing competition at domestic and international levels, would soon announce discounted ticket rates to attract passengers. “We’ll announce within a few days the rate of discounts to be given on tickets for our flights to different destinations,” he said after launching the electronic ticketing system at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport here on Sunday.
Yousuf Attiyah, assistant vice president, said the electronic ticketing system would be made available at all of the Kingdom’s regions within three months. The fare cuts come as two domestic carriers, Sama and NAS, will take to the skies soon, thus creating formidable domestic competition for Saudia.
Saudi Airlines is reportedly in negotiations with Boeing and Airbus to purchase new aircraft worth $12 billion (SR45 billion) to strengthen its fleet and provide seats to its growing number of passengers. The deal to purchase around 60 planes will bolster the airline’s current fleet of 139, helping it to counter the challenges posed by regional and international airline companies.
Al-Mulhim said the number of visitors to the Kingdom would triple from a current 3.5 million in the next 10 years as growing numbers of Muslims visit the country for Haj and Umrah. Saudia carried a record 17.57 million passengers in 2006, registering an increase of 471,462 passengers from the previous year.