SAUDI ARABIA: Nesma Airlines Starts Flights To Northern Saudia

Saudi-Egyptian carrier Nesma Airlines has begun services from Hail, in the north of Saudi Arabia, as domestic competition in the country intensifies.

The desert kingdom’s regulator, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), has overseen the issue of licenses to several new airlines, including Nesma, in the past year. For years, traffic in the country has been largely monopolized by national carrier Saudia, with around 10% going to hybrid carrier flynas.

Foreign carriers have also noticeably increased services to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to win a part of the rapidly growing air travel market in the most populous of the Gulf states.

Nesma intends to use Hail as a hub to a network of eight smaller northern Saudi cities: Turaif, Qaisumah, Arar, Rafha, Aljouf, Tabuk, Qaseem and Madinah under the local equivalent of essential air service (EAS) contracts. Nesma also plans to start services to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the country’s main commercial center Jeddah and the oil-rich Eastern province city of Dammam.

Details of services to the last three cities will be announced in November.

Commenting on the start of Nesma’s services, GACA DG-northern airports Hamad Alkhemaish said the flights marked the start of a national project for hub airports. ATW understands flynas has been given authority to launch a similar series of EAS routes to smaller cities, based on a hub at Abha, in the far southwest of the country.

Nesma Airlines CEO Faisal Alturki said the airline would build up a fleet of six ATR 72-600 turboprops over the next three years. It also intended to acquire single examples of the Airbus A320 and A319 for services from Hail to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Two larger A321s are also planned to operate services between the latter three cities.

Partly because of the start of Nesma services, GACA is looking to expand Hail airport. A study is underway that will look at the existing terminal and expansion of the apron area to allow for more aircraft to be parked.

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Gulf Airlines And Al-Maha Airways Take-off Delayed

New domestic airlines — Al-Maha Airways and Saudi Gulf Airlines — have been further delayed due to technical reasons as the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) asked them to complete safety procedures in order to start operation next year.

“The two private airlines were supposed to begin their services this month but their flights were delayed because of technical reasons,” said Abdul Hakeem Al-Badr, assistant president for safety and transport.

He urged the two airlines to complete safety measures to receive the license.

“The two airlines have bought a fleet of aircraft required for operation in the Kingdom,” he said, adding that the first plane for Saudi Gulf Airlines would arrive by the end of this month.

“We expect the two operators to complete final procedures to get the necessary license, including safety measures,” Al-Badr told Al-Watan Arabic daily.

“The operation of the new airlines will not affect activities of the Kingdom’s hub airports,” he added.

Al-Badr disclosed plans to transform Hail Regional Airport into an international airport. “The expansion of its terminals has been completed. Hail has been selected to become a hub airport considering its strategic position. The project will be launched in the first quarter of 2016,” Al-Badr said.

He said Hail airport would give quick connections to Al-Jouf, Arar, Gurayat, Qaisuma, Turaif and Rafha, adding that it would receive 33 flights daily.

“We also intend to convert Abha into a hub airport considering the intensity of flights,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hail Governor Prince Abdul Mohsen opened an aviation conference in the city in the presence of Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, president of GACA on Tuesday. An exhibition is being held on the sidelines of the conference with the participation of 40 exhibitors.

Al-Hamdan said the hub airport system launched by GACA would serve domestic passengers to reach their destinations easily and improve aviation services.