RIYADH, 30 April 2008 — The Shoura Council on Monday recommended that Saudi Arabian Airlines resume its services on various domestic routes that had been abandoned after the emergence of a number of private carriers lately.

While approving a report on civil aviation prepared by the Transport and Information Technology Committee, the Shoura Council observed that the two private airline companies currently operating in the domestic sector failed to meet the demand. The report urged the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) to make the national airline resume its services in various sectors side by side with new companies until the private operators become fully equipped to meet demand in all domestic sectors, the Arabic daily Al-Madinah reported yesterday.

The withdrawal of the national carrier from certain domestic sectors made private companies monopolize the routes though they did not have the capacity to handle the traffic, according to officials.

Sama and Nas are the two private companies that operate passenger flights and cargo services in the Kingdom.

“The two companies started weak and continues to be so. They cancelled some routes when they could not attract customers in large numbers. The situation has forced passengers in these sectors to travel by road. In this situation Saudia should resume its operations on these routes,” said Khaleel Al-Ibrahim, a Shoura member.

Two other members, Talal Bakri and Shibli Al-Qarni, said that the new companies were not equipped to fulfill the needs of citizens in various sectors. The situation makes it imperative on the national carrier to return to these sectors, they said.

The council stressed the need for injecting real competition to the domestic and international sectors by issuing licenses to more private companies with the potential to provide excellent services.

The council also urged the authorities to speed up the renovation works at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. It called on all the airline companies to honor their financial and operational commitments to the GACA.

The council reminded the companies that GACA had been authorized to penalize defaulters.