Home and hub
Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Zaragoza, Frankfurt – these are all some of Saudia Cargo’s key partners in Europe. Shortly before Air Cargo Europe in Munich, Omar Hariri met ITJ airfreight editor Andreas Haug to assess Saudia’s development. Hariri has been Saudia Cargo CEO since spring 2018, ensuring a place for the freighter operator at trade fairs and conferences worldwide in his time in office.
Mr Hariri, around a year ago you took your position at the head of Saudia Cargo. What impressions have you got of operations so far?
It’s a very interesting position both I and Saudia Cargo are in. As a Saudi it fills me with great pride to serve the national carrier and my country – all the more, of course, when you see this great task in the broader perspective of our ‘Saudi Vision 2030’, our national economic diversification and development strategy.
Aviation and Saudi Arabian Airlines play a very important role in the country’s logistics strategy. In short, my time at Saudia Cargo so far has been challenging as well as enriching. 2018 was a good year and we’re now looking forward to an equally successful 2019.
What recent developments stand out?
Last year we took a completely new approach. We want to focus more on specific markets, customers and products now. This decision was accompanied by a reduction in our full-freighter fleet, bringing it from 17 to ten units. Nevertheless, we also transported more goods and so made better use of our aircraft. We’re confident that we’ll again deliver a solid performance this year.
What markets and products do you focus on in particular?
Africa is one of our key priorities, due to Saudi Arabia’s and our Jeddah hub’s ideal geographic situation. We can connect Europe with Africa, and also link up Asian destinations through Jeddah.
On the ground we’re improving our overall logistics infrastructure in our Jeddah and Riyadh hubs by investing around USD 300 million in facilities there. The modern new terminals that are under construction will be used primarily for e-commerce activities. They are geared to handling transfer shipments.
When will they go into operation?
The first facility will be completed in October this year; the entire project is due to be completed in three to four years. In addition, the government is also investing in a completely new airport in Dammam, which will become fully operational at the end of this year. This will also significantly increase our transfer capacities in that part of the kingdom.
On what scale?
Our overall current handling capacity will virtually be doubled. In Riyadh airport it will rise from 350,000 to approximately 700,000 t a year; whilst in Jeddah we’ll move up to around 900,000 t.
What products do you expect will fill your aircraft and your terminals?
Our transformation process will affect high-price segments, above all, including the pharmaceuticals business, which we haven’t been able to serve very well yet so far. We took a step in the right direction in June last year, laying the foundation stone for a 75,000 sqm refrigeration plant. The value of the move was confirmed by European shippers’ representatives recently. We held promising discussions with them during their visit to our country.
What about flower transport, another key cool-chain product?
Here too, Africa is a focal point for us. We have a service linking up Johannesburg, and fly to and from Nairobi nine times a week. We transport 750 t of flowers every week, which makes us one of the largest operators in this segment. We also opened a sales office in Cairo in January, which is another important operational gateway for us.
How are things going in Saudia Cargo’s home region? There’s no shortage of big freight carriers in the Middle East, after all, is there?
Our advantage is that we have a really strong domestic market. One of our main concerns nevertheless remains our desire to activate transfer capacities. At the moment this sector accounts for approximately 20% of our total activity, but our declared target is to reach at least 50–60%. This is about an average value for national carriers with strong home markets. We know that this figure can rise as high as 80% for airlines that focus intensely on transfer activities.
How good is your cooperation with the kingdom’s state authorities?
Very good. This is where our national ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ comes in again. Last year we launched many initiatives and cooperated closely with the country’s customs authority. That institution is currently also undergoing a key transformation process, which in turn is very helpful for our activities.
In addition, we recently signed an agreement with King Abdullah Port, one of the largest new ports in the region, to establish a sea-air corridor. Clearly, the country’s logistics community is moving forward together to serve the country’s welfare and realise its visions.
