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.

The league of unextraordinary gentlemen

Today it was widely reported that Asad's regime has rejected the Arab League's proposals to bring an end to the current violence in Syria. This does not come as a surprise. What comes as more of a surprise is that the Arab League were able to stir themselves into action sufficiently to reach a level of consensus and provide Asad with any form of proposal, considering the disagreements that have arisen between its members.

In a recent development, Saudi Arabia announced it was pulling out its representatives to the Arab League, citing Syria's inability to "keep its promises" as the main reason for exiting. (See Al Jazeera article.) With Al Jazeera reporting on Saudi's exit from the Arab League, some may think that this is a significant set back for the observer mission. The reality is quite different. Saudi's exit should not be seen as a significant step or otherwise, given how lacklustre the Arab League is as an international body.  

Despite, or perhaps in response, to Asad's rejection of the proposals the Arab League has decided it is necessary to continue their "observer mission", even though they have lost their Saudi delegate. And good for them, as observing is one thing the Arab League is good at. Unfortunately, it is converting these observations into meaningful action where precendent shows it fails.

I suspect that the House of Saud were hoping to cause a collective gasp by pulling out of this "observer mission". Yet, with the exception of the Al-Jazeera article mentioned above, the apparently dramatic move has gone largely unnoticed. However, the fact that Saudi has pulled out still deserves some criticism. Saudi Arabia likes to present itself as a leader of the Sunni Muslim Arab world, especially given the House of Saud's self-appointed role as Guardian of the Two Holy Mosques. Isn't it interesting that, despite taking on this role, they are still happy to walk out of an observer mission whose supposed purpose is to bring about an end to the violence at the hands of the Shia Asads against the very Sunni Muslims they claim to protect. Surely this forces us to question how seriously Saudi Arabia takes its international role? The House of Saud seems happy to accept the title, but flees at the first sign that action is required.  

I genuinely hope that the international community realise it is going to take more than this league of unextraodrinary gentlemen to resolve the situation in Syria. Observers they may be, leaders of action they are not. Syria needs the latter, desperately.