The Assistant Minister of Defence and Aviation, Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, said foreign airlines may be allowed to operate domestic flights in Saudi Arabia provided they meet certain conditions.
“We currently have 27 airports and we need to have a solid foundation with further economic rules and security standards,” Al-Riyadh newspaper quoted him as saying.
The Minister, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the General Authority for Civil Aviation, told a Jeddah forum that the Kingdom currently has no rules to regulate ticket prices and has left them to the discretion of individual airlines. He added that ticket prices to his knowledge have not changed.
Many Gulf airlines such as Bahrain Air, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have shown an interest in operating domestically in Saudi Arabia, but have not been allowed to.
Currently, Saudi Arabian Airlines is the main provider of domestic flights in the Kingdom alongside the low- cost carrier Nasair.
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