DUBAI: Saudi Arabian Airlines will start talks with Airbus and Boeing about a narrow-body aircraft order before the end of the year, the state carrier’s top executive said on Thursday.
The requirement for flyadeal, its new low-cost subsidiary airline, will be for “probably 30 single-aisle aircraft,” Director General Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser told Reuters in Dubai.
The talks aimed at acquiring Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 aircraft will start “much sooner” than Dec. 31, he said at a meeting between aviation authorities from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Flyadeal launched domestic flights in September and plans to start operating international routes by mid-2018. It has agreed to lease eight A320s from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) with the first delivered in August.
Al-Jasser had said prior to flyadeal’s launch that the airline would operate an entirely leased fleet of between 25 and 50 aircraft by 2020.
Earlier Al-Jasser told reporters that Saudi Arabian Airlines could list shares in its cargo business next year.
Under Saudia’s privatization plan it aims to next float 30 percent of the shares in the cargo subsidiary, a share market listing which “could be in 2018,” Al-Jasser said.
He said after that the airline’s private aviation or medical business could be listed.
Reuters reported in May that Saudia had engaged with advisers for the full sale of its medical unit, which is called Saudia Medical Services, based in Jeddah.
Saudia to start talks with Airbus and Boeing over narrow body order
Saudia to start talks with Airbus and Boeing over narrow body order
Closing Bell: Saudi main index rises to close at 11,251
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose on Thursday, gaining 84.27 points, or 0.75 percent, to close at 11,251.81.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR5.38 billion ($1.43 billion), as 188 of the stocks advanced and 67 retreated.
Similarly, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 157.22 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 23,643.74. This comes as 44 of the stocks advanced while 32 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index gained 10.88 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 1,517.43.
The best-performing stock of the day was Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price surged 9.96 percent to SR5.30.
Other top performers included Ataa Educational Co., whose share price rose 9.94 percent to SR57.50, as well as Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co., whose share price surged 5.74 percent to SR7.55.
Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Co. recorded the most significant drop, falling 5.93 percent to SR220.50.
Abdullah Saad Mohammed Abo Moati for Bookstores Co. also saw its stock prices fall 2.77 percent to SR43.56.
Zahrat Al Waha for Trading Co. also saw its stock prices decline 2.30 percent to SR2.55.
On the announcement front, Multi Business Group Co. reported its annual financial results for the year ended Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the firm recorded a net profit of SR352,172 during the year, down 98 percent from the previous year.
The company attributed the decline primarily to a 2 percent drop in building contracting revenues and a 73 percent decrease in gross profit.
Multi Business Group Co. ended the session at SR9.90, down 1 percent.
Hamad Mohammed Bin Saedan Real Estate Co. announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Awwal Bank to enhance collaboration in financing solutions, advance real estate development projects, and expand access to customer financing programs.
Hamad Mohammed Bin Saedan Real Estate Co. ended the session at SR6.67, up 1.21 percent.
