RIYADH – The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), in collaboration with Meras Platform, has launched the first phase of the online economic licensing services related to air transportation in the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting the GACA sources. This was in continuation with GACA's efforts to provide the best electronic services in accordance with the latest technological developments. An electronic link has been created for the issuance procedures of GACA licenses via the platform. Under the system, investors would be able to follow-up on their requests without the need to address anyone in the aviation authority personally. The initiative aims to enable investors to apply for economic licenses through Meras platform, which will be connected to the GACA portal within minutes. In addition, the new process will reduce the time required to issue the licenses from the previous 60 days to just 15 days now. GACA is working to automate all economic licensing services and link them to the Meras platform. Meras will provide, in the first phase of economic licensing, services related to air transport in the Kingdom, as well as issuance of license for scheduled passenger flights for air carriers. The license will give entities the right to carry out scheduled passenger flight operations within and outside the Kingdom. The platform also provides a licensing service to the national air carrier for operating unscheduled passenger flights. This is in addition to licensing for aircraft leasing. Such a license gives business entities the right to lease aircraft with seating a capacity of not more than 56 with a maximum takeoff weight of 75,000 kg with an operator for the purpose of passenger transport. The Meras platform also provides economic licensing service for aerial photography activities. The license is meant for aerial photography within the Kingdom. The platform also facilitates licensing of air cargo transport for specified and unspecified schedule, granting business entities the right to scheduled and unscheduled cargo movement by air within and outside the Kingdom. GACA is seeking to provide easier working procedures and better service to investors in the sector, in light of its regulatory and supervisory role in the civil aviation sector in the Kingdom. The goal is to facilitate the steps taken by investors according to the latest development in the aviation industry and in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, GACA said in a press statement.
