RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Thursday, losing 193.02 points, or 1.65 percent to close at 11,503.49

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR13.13 billion ($3.50 billion) as 65 stocks advanced while 161 retreated.   

Similarly, the MSCI Tadawul Index dipped by 24.77 points, or 1.70 percent, to close at 1,436.07.

However, the Kingdom’s parallel market, Nomu, increased by 307.64 points or 1.17 percent, to close at 26,610.57. This comes as 28 stocks advanced, while as many as 30 retreated. 

The best-performing stock was the Mediterranean and Gulf Insurance and Reinsurance Co., as its share price surged by 7.66 percent to SR29.50.

Other top performers included Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. and Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies Co., whose share prices soared by 5.37 percent and 4.55 percent, to stand at SR62.80 and SR161 respectively.

National Co. for Learning and Education and East Pipes Integrated Co. for Industry also performed well.

The worst performer was ACWA Power Co. whose share price dropped by 9.98 percent to SR402.40.

Share prices of Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. as well as the Co. for Cooperative Insurance dropped by 7.89 percent and 6.41 percent to stand at SR8.40 and SR131.40, respectively.

The best-performing stock of the day on the parallel market was Mohammed Hadi Al-Rasheed and Partners Co., as its share price surged by 12.58 percent to SR34.90.

Other top performers included Osool and Bakheet Investment Co. and Abdulaziz and Mansour Ibrahim Albabtin Co., whose share prices soared by 12.38 percent and 6.86 percent, to stand at SR44.95 and SR45.95 respectively.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will soon assess the feasibility of establishing low-cost airports around Riyadh following a call from the Kingdom’s Shoura Council. 

The country’s Consultative Assembly urged the General Authority of Civil Aviation to build and operate the planned airports or offer them to the private sector in a build-operate-transfer manner, according to a post on X. 

Additionally, the council recommended that GACA collaborate with national carriers to increase domestic flights and diversify their destinations to enhance transportation and tourism services. 

These initiatives align with the Kingdom’s aviation sector goals, such as increasing passenger numbers and expanding flight routes. They also support GACA’s vision of enabling Saudi leadership in aviation through customer-centric and digitally-enabled regulatory services. 

The council also emphasized the need for GACA to activate the annual target for air freight in accordance with the National Transport and Logistics Strategy. 

Earlier this week, Riyadh-based King Khalid International Airport was recognized as one of the top three performing terminals in the Kingdom, according to official data.  

In its monthly report for April, GACA indicated that the airport led the category for international terminals with over 15 million passengers annually, achieving an 82 percent compliance rate with the authority’s standards. 

The evaluation, based on 11 key criteria, aims to improve service quality and enhance the passenger experience.  

Earlier in May, in an interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Aviation Forum held in Riyadh, Vice President of GACA for Quality and Traveler Experience, Abdulaziz Al-Dahmash, said the Kingdom has set “very ambitious targets” in this sector.   

He noted that these targets include tripling the number of passengers compared to 2019, handling 4.5 million tonnes of cargo, and establishing more than 250 direct destinations from the Kingdom’s airports to global locations. 

“Those key targets need enablers, and one of the key pillars is our passenger experience, and we always say that the passenger comes first, so from that perspective, we started different programs from a regulator perspective,” Al-Dahmash told Arab News at the time.