FINANCIAL NEWS

Saudi Arabia to authorize for new airlines

25 Apr 2012

(MENAFN) Saudi Arabian aviation regulator unveiled plans to award new airline licenses in September, Reuters reported.

Khalid al-Khaibary, the spokesman for General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said that the aviation authority will grant airline licenses for the right operate both local and international flights.

14 companies applied for the licenses and the government had yet to decide on how many carriers it would authorize, he added.

National carrier Saudi Airlines (Saudia) and budget airline National Air Services (NAS) now serve a domestic market of around 27 million people.

Saudi Airlines enjoys subsidized prices on its fuel purchases, allowing it to offset the limits of the ticket cost ceiling set by GACA.

Private airlines like Sama Airlines struggled with their profit margins, due to the price ceiling on domestic flights. In 2010 Sama Airlines was forced to shut down.

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