RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has no immediate plans to allow Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to operate in the Kingdom, Transport Minister Nabeel Al-Amudi said on Monday, as state airline flyadeal potentially reconsiders an order for the jets. Boeing's top-selling MAX has been grounded globally since last month after two fatal crashes involving the same model in five months, the first in Indonesia in October and another on March 10 in Ethiopia. "There were no 737 MAX flying in the Kingdom at the time and there aren't plans for them to be back in the near future," Amudi told reporters at an aviation conference in Riyadh. Budget carrier flyadeal has said its waiting until investigations into the two crashes are completed before deciding if it proceeds with an order for 30 MAX jets. Amoudi, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), said Saudi civil aviation sector has contributed SR126 billion, representing 4.6 percent, annually to the gross domestic product (GDP). "This vital sector is also generating 527,000 jobs," he said, quoting the last statistical figures published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 2014. As many as 15 ministers of transport and 140 presidents and top executives of civil aviation bodies and experts from international and regional organizations are taking part in the Global Aviation Summit 2019. "We are contributing to the development and expansion of the air transport industry through the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, and looking forward to the Kingdom reaching the 25th position in the World Bank's Logistic Performance Index. The Kingdom also aims at raising the air cargo capacity by 5.2 million tons through the establishment and development of five airports, as well as expansion of three air cargo terminals, the improvement of airport infrastructure, the creation of a new business opportunity to improve air transport safety and the promotion of environmental sustainability," he said. — With agencies
