JEDDAH, 6 November 2004 — A ministerial committee has been formed to set regulations for private airline companies to operate domestic flights in the Kingdom. The committee was set up on the directives of Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.
Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah, assistant defense and aviation minister for civil aviation affairs, emphasized that only those airlines that fulfill certain important conditions would be allowed to operate, adding that such conditions were necessary to ensure safety of passengers.
“We hope the process to qualify private airlines will be completed shortly,” Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, a sister publication of Arab News, quoted him as saying. However, he did not say when private airlines would be allowed to operate flights within the Kingdom.
The move comes after the Council of Ministers endorsed last year a proposal to allow national companies to operate domestic flights, ending decades of monopoly by Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The opening of the Saudi aviation sector comes amid complaints by passengers the national carrier was not operating enough domestic flights and counter-claims by the airline it was making losses in the domestic market. “The decision to allow private airlines to operate domestic flights was taken to meet the growing needs of domestic passengers, to strengthen the economy and provide passengers the choice to select airlines that offer quality services at lower prices,” Prince Fahd said.
At present the presidency is conducting a market study on the traffic of passengers to different regions. “We’ll study the market situation from all aspects and make estimates for the coming 10 years to work out how to distribute sectors to private companies,” he said.
He said authorities would then contact investors who are interested in operating private airlines. “We’ll also request the public to give their opinion on the issue before taking a final decision,” he added. The new airlines should have strong administration with adequate financial backing.
Al-Tayyar group, a Saudi company, said it was planning to operate a private airline. “We have conducted a feasibility study in association with Turkish, Indian and Singaporean firms. The project is economically feasible, especially at this time when the Kingdom is making progress in the tourism sector,” he said.
The Al-Tayyar group charters some 300 flights annually from different parts of the Kingdom to Jeddah, Taif and Madinah, especially during the Haj and Umrah seasons.
The National Aviation Service was also planning to enter the Kingdom’s domestic aviation sector, the largest in the Middle East and outside Europe and America.
Prince Fahd recently signed two agreements with the International Finance Corporation. The first was to conduct studies related to the establishment of four new lounges at the Haj Terminal in King Abdul Aziz International Airport and the second pertained to the setting up of a new desalination plant to supply water required by the airport.
