Saudi Cargo Company and Southern Air Holdings Inc, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US, have signed a definitive agreement under which the latter will operate one Boeing 747 freighter on behalf of Saudi cargo on an ACMI basis (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance). The aircraft will begin to be operated for SACC in July 2011 and will be painted in its livery. Fahad Hammad, Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Cargo, said "we welcome Southern Air to our roster of ACMI providers. Southern Air's offers the widest selection of wide body freighters with their 747-200s and B777LRF program and the introduction of the 747-400's will be an important attraction for us. We look forward to working with the Southern team." Southern Air's Chief Executive Officer Daniel J. McHugh said "we are proud to add Saudi Airlines Cargo Company to our client roster. Leading carriers continue to recognize the value that our outstanding operating platform and decades of global experience can bring to their own businesses. We look forward to establishing a long-term relationship with Saudi cargo and are committed to exceeding their expectations by delivering excellent results and service." With a network of more than 225 domestic and international stations and sub-stations, Saudi Airlines Cargo now has a strong presence in most world markets with improved airfreight services being rendered with its fleet of 12 cargo aircraft fleet and cargo space available on board 125 passenger aircraft of Saudi Arabian Airlines. Saudi Airlines Cargo Company Ltd. plans to increase its investment in domestic stations to SR67.6 million, the company's Chairman Engineer Khaled Al-Molhem said earlier. "The move will add strategy depth to the company's global operations," he said, explaining that 31 percent of the development funds will go to Jeddah, 49 percent to Riyadh and 20 percent to other domestic stations for expenditure on new ground support equipment, facilities and service agreements. "Jeddah and Riyadh are key global stations for cargo export, transit and export," the chairman pointed out, noting that "building on Jeddah's latest success of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) conducted by Quali-Audit requires continuous hard work."
