February 18 - Saudia Cargo, the stand-alone air freight division of Saudia Airlines, has achieved record annual results for 2012.
The carrier posted total boarding figures of 516,000 tonnes, resulting in a 21 percent increase in revenue compared with the previous year.
The airline's success, which it says is due to a strong economy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), represents a landmark achievement for the Saudi-based cargo carrier.
"2012 has been our most successful year to date," commented Fahad Hammad, CEO of Saudia Cargo. "This is largely due to a very strong Q4, which has resulted in a total annual growth in revenue of 21 percent versus 2011."
"We have achieved growth in all of the regions in which we are active," he continued. "Our volumes from Europe have increased by 47 percent and from Greater China/Hong Kong by 21 percent. Likewise, volumes from the UAE have risen by 51 percent and from Bangladesh by 72 percent."
It is a similar picture for volumes from the network into other markets, with volumes into KSA increasing by 22 percent and into Africa by 35 percent. Volumes from all regions into Europe also rose by 43 percent.
Saudia Cargo operates scheduled freighter services with 13 freighters and sells the belly-capacity on 145 passenger aircraft, many of them widebody equipment, for flag carrier Saudia spanning a rapidly expanding global network of 225 destinations.
The cargo airline also provides cost-effective and practical worldwide charter flight solutions from a growing fleet of dedicated charter aircraft.
