Saudi Airlines Cargo Expands European and African Reach

Saudi Airlines Cargo, the dedicated freight business of Saudi Arabian Airlines, will this summer introduce additional flights into Europe and Africa as it widens its network in the Continents. From the start of the Northern Summer timetable later this month, Saudi Airlines will operate four flights per week to Frankfurt and two flights per week to Vienna, with onward connections in Saudi Arabia from and to Hong Kong and other destinations in the Far East.

“We are extremely excited to be introducing these new services from Frankfurt and Vienna, which will provide a great boost to our existing activities in Europe where we currently operate scheduled freighters from Brussels, Amsterdam and Milan,” said Peter Scholten, Vice President Commercial, Saudi Airlines Cargo.

“Frankfurt is the financial and transportation center of Germany, the largest and most important market in the European Union, while Vienna is the gateway to Eastern Europe. Offering a high frequency of services from these key cities with direct connections to the Far East will allow us to grow our business as well as to expand our activities into Eastern Europe,” he added.

Meanwhile, the carrier will also introduce a weekly Boeing 747 freighter flight to Accra, Ghana from March 25, 2012. Accra, Kotoka International Airport is a major hub for the sub-region and export cargo includes mainly perishables like fruit and vegetables the majority of which is destined for markets in Europe and the Middle East.

"Ghana is an emerging market with enormous business potential for air cargo,” said Peter Scholten. “The addition of this new destination will help us to increase our activities in Africa, where we already operate scheduled B747 freighters from Saudi Arabia to Nairobi, Lagos, Addis Ababa, N'djamena, Khartoum and Johannesburg."

Saudi Airlines Cargo operates scheduled freighter services using 12 freighter jets as well selling the belly-capacity on the 140 passenger aircraft for Saudi Arabian Airlines offering links to a global network that encompasses over 220 destinations. The new Frankfurt service is due to be operated using Boeing 747F equipment, while Vienna will be served by McDonnell Douglas MD-11Fs.