Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, on Tuesday signed here three commercial contracts worth SR600 million with representatives of German and Singapore companies. The commercial contract will be for a period of six years. Abdullah Bin Muhammad Nour Ruheimi, President of General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) was also present. The contracts were seen as a first step toward privatization of Kingdom's airports operations. Fraport AG, a German company, following the signing of contracts, was named Fraport Saudi Arabia for Airport Management and Development Services Company Ltd. It bagged the commercial operation contracts worth SR216 million for King Abdul Aziz International Airport (Jeddah) and SR201.5 million for King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh while Changi Airports International Pvt. Ltd., a Singaporean company won SR162 million worth of commercial operation contract for King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. Raff Schiffer, Project Riyadh and MD of Fraport Saudi Arabia for Airport Management and Development Services Company Ltd. led the German delegation while Lim Chin Beng, Chairman of Changi Airport Saudi Arabia represented his company in the signing of the contracts with GACA. Abdullah Bin Muhammad Nour Ruheimi, GACA's President prior to the signing of contracts said: “Since I became GACA president my vision has been to modernize and upgrade the whole aviation industry for which I am responsible, either as operator (for airport and navigation) or regulator of airlines.” He said he wanted to see Saudi Arabia to occupy a central place not just geographically but as an aviation hub in the region. He said privatization is basically aimed at improving airport services and to attract more passengers to Saudi Arabia, “which also means creation of more job opportunities for Saudi nationals,” he said. Schiffer said commercial operations means building new shops and a number of other activities in the non-aviation sector at the airports that offer best of world class services to the passengers. Asked if that means the passengers might need to pay airport tax, he said: “Not immediately, but in the long-run there is possibility of levying certain fees at the airport.” Beng said the most important part of the contract was also to train the Saudi workforce and transfer of expertise. “Once we leave after the contract period, our trained Saudi staff will be in a position to successfully take over the commercial operation of the airport,” he said. He, however, said the real challenge will be to compete the regional airports such as in Bahrain by reducing the check-in and baggage clearance after the arrival of passengers among other services. “We will see KFIA becomes a gateway to Saudi Arabia,” he said. Ruheimi said taking the Kingdom's aviation industry from its current position to being a world leader would not be an easy task. “There are many in the country and within GACA, who are comfortable with present operation of airports but lot many others want Saudi Arabia as a source of passengers for them, not as the hub for their passengers,” he said. It would be GACA's policy to move forward compatible with national interest and achieve the most liberal aviation position with the countries around the world, he said adding that in doing so the Kingdom will face increasing challenges. “Saudi Arabian aviation sector will need to move out from its protected lifestyle and face the opposition. Of course, we cannot expect the airports and airlines to move from their current position to the full force of global competition overnight. We have planned to gradually open up and liberalize the sector so that they can adapt themselves during the course of time” he said. – SG __
