Charterer seeks airline status

Jeddah-based National Air Services (NAS), one of the largest executive air services companies in the Middle East, is planning to convert its operation into a scheduled airline, the second in the Kingdom, said a senior official.

This will allow NAS to operate a second commercial airline in Saudi Arabia and break the monopoly of national flag carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The company, which yesterday announced a Dh1.67 billion order for 10 Airbus A318 Corporate Jetliners (ACJ), including five firm orders and five options, launched a daily scheduled flight between Dubai and Riyadh last week.

"We are planning to start scheduled flights on the Dubai-Jeddah route on a daily basis in the coming weeks," Rob D. DiCastri, NAS chief financial officer, told Gulf News at the Middle East Business Aviation conference yesterday.

"Each return flight costs 3,200 riyals, for which businessmen can enjoy first class travel. The ten aircraft would cost us $450 million at list price.

"The deal will be 85 per cent backed by European export credit agencies through French investment bank Calyon the Credit Agricole banking group. The remainder will be invested by us.

"To raise capital, we are looking at some of the GCC's capital markets. When the time is appropriate, we might float an IPO. Dubai is a lucrative market for the offering. However, all depends on the future market conditions."

Deliveries of the aircraft will start in late 2006.

"In making wide-cabin comfort more accessible to executive and private users, we gain entry to a larger market that builds on the success of the Airbus ACJ family, which has already reached the milestone of over 50 sales," said Airbus president and chief executive Gustav Humbert.

Anne Marie Siffroy-Pytlak, senior vice-president of Calyon, said, "This transaction represents the first financing undertaken by the bank for a private aviation company in Saudi Arabia, and we are happy to work with an innovative organization like NAS."