This ban means that Saudi Arabian Airlines will have sole control over the market. The question I want to ask is this. Why do we prevent foreign companies from operating locally? Saudia provides few flights and regularly suffers from delays and flight cancellations.
This ban has killed the competition in the local market. We know that Sama Airlines went out of business because of unfair fuel prices. Fuel for Saudia is subsidized by 80 percent, while other local airlines have to pay at international rates.
There is a perennial problem in the local market. No airline will ever succeed against another supported by the government.
Who will want to compete under such conditions? When Prince Fahd bin Abdullah comes out with a statement that no airline will be allowed to operate locally, we should tell him that no one would come in the first place.
No one will operate to work in the local market when they have to pay international prices for fuel while the local carrier gets government support.
Where does the competition fit into this picture and how are we going to attract foreign or local airlines to operate locally? Sama is a perfect example of failure operating under unreasonable conditions.
There is no debate on who will be banned from operating in the local market.
I was even surprised when (director general of Saudia) Khaled Al-Molhem said that a competitor was out of the local market as if it was something to be celebrated.
The whole issue is over fuel prices. How much is Saudia paying for it and how much are other carriers paying? What would attract a foreign carrier from coming into the local market when the rules are not fair?
With this in mind, we come out with an official statement saying that we will not allow foreign airlines to operate locally. The foreign companies will not even bother to operate here until they can fuel their jets from their home countries and not from the Kingdom, not to mention bearing the cost of ground and logistic services.
When we banned airlines from operating locally, knowing full well that no one would come in the first place, we said nothing new. The only justification for banning other airlines is to protect the local carrier.
