Saudia (SV, Jeddah International) took delivery of its first B777-F, HZ-AK71 (msn 60337), in Jeddah International on April 2 following a delivery flight from Everett. The Saudi carrier has four of the type on order from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) with the remaining three due to be delivered by the end of December this year.
The move is in line with Saudi Arabian regulations set to outlaw the operation of aircraft older than 20 years of age. At present, the carrier's freighter fleet consists of eleven B747-400(F)s (eight leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic (CC, Reykjavik Keflavik) and three sourced from myCargo Airlines (Istanbul Atatürk)) as well as two own B747-8(F)s.
