Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) earned a record revenue of SR13.53 billion last year, the highest in its history, according to Dr. Khaled Ben-Bakr, director general of the Airline. The amount was more than SR3 billion higher than that of 2003.
Addressing a meeting of the board of directors, chaired by Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, the Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation, Ben-Bakr said new aircraft ordered by the Airline would join the fleet from November 15.
Prince Sultan commended the Airline's outstanding performance and achievements over the past years and for its international reputation in terms of safety and services, according to a press statement published today.
Saudi Arabian Airlines has won the IATA Operational Safety Audit Certificate for the first time without any observations. The Airline fulfilled all safety conditions and achieved the top position among the 43 airlines which applied for the program.
He said the SAA's financial performance in the last six months reflected continued growth in both revenues and profits. He attributed the results to cutting expenditures without affecting safety and services.
The director general underscored the Airline's success in turning financial loss into substantial profit. In 1998, the SAA made a loss of SR1.4 billion. It then dropped to SR659 million in 1999, SR578 million in 2000 and SR110 million in 2001.
"The SAA posted its first profit (SR117 million) in 2002," he said, adding that the amount doubled to SR252 million in 2003 and SR440 million in 2004. "During the last seven years the Airline was able to improve its financial performance by SR1.842 billion," he said.
