SaudiGulf Airlines (SGQ, Dammam) is now slated to launch operations during the last quarter of this year the new president of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Sulaiman Al Hamdan, has said. The start-up was originally scheduled to begin flights during the third quarter of last year to be followed by fellow entrant Al Maha Airways (Riyadh) in the fourth quarter.
According to the Arabian Business newswire, Al Hamdan told a local press gathering that the delays in launching were as a result of the two start-ups failing to meet the kingdom’s regulatory requirements needed to gain their respective Air Operators Certificates (AOC).
“There are regulations that they have to follow to get the license. We are transparent and we provide the same facilities to all airlines,” he said.
In January of this year, Akbar al Baker, the CEO of Al Maha's parent Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International), told Saudi newspaper Al Watan that “complicated” bureaucratic procedures had caused the delay in Al Maha's launch, adding that there would be a six to 18 month waiting period before operations commence.
Both carriers are set to compete in the Saudi domestic market and both will launch operations using fleets of A320-200 (sl)s.
Saudi Gulf, owned by the Dammam-based Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Sons Group of Companies, is also scheduled to take delivery of its first of sixteen A220-300s on order from Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) towards the end of the year.
