Saudi Arabia: Exclusive skies above a closed kingdom

On 28 December I posted Saudi Arabia: Open skies above a closed kingdom to comment on the invitation by GACA, the Saudi aviation authority, for foreign airlines to bid for a contract to operate domestic and international flights within and out of Saudi Arabia. In the post, I said we were due to hear GACA's decision towards the end of the January 2012. It's therefore time for an upadte...

Sadly, it seems that "Project Open Skies" (as I like to call it) is running a little behind. Today I read in the Saudi Gazette that we will now have to wait until March to hear GACA's decision. Even so, GACA did give an update on the two front runners. In my last post on this topic I put my money on GACA choosing a local airline from a neighbouring Sunni Arab state, so I was not at all surprised to read that Emirates Airlines and Gulf Air are currently the Gazette's hot favourites. Upon reflection, it seems that I was definitely too hasty to hail the beginning of open skies above Saudi Arabia. "Exclusive skies" is definitely a better title.

The next question is which of these two candidates will come out on top? There are pros and cons to each. Gulf Air is the national carrier of Bahrain, which may one day fall into the hands of the increasingly vocal Shia majority who are currently chipping away at their Sunni minority overlords. I am not sure if Gulf Air would seem so attractive to GACA with a Shia board of directors. On the other hand, Emirates Airlines is one of the world's most luxurious carriers, with a modern fleet. Sat side by side with Saudia, Saudi's mediocre national carrier, there is a real risk that the superiority of Emirates Airlines will make a mockery of Saudi's tired national carrier.

So I will refrain from making a prediction this time round. Instead, I will await GACA's decision with interest.