Saudia flew 5.72m passengers in Q1

Saudi Arabian Airlines, known as Saudia, flew 5.72m passengers in the first quarter of 2012 compared with 4.55m a year earlier, al-Watan said, citing a report from the national carrier. The number of domestic passengers increased 25 percent to 3.46m in the first quarter from a year earlier, the newspaper said. In April, Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said it would begin granting airline licenses for the right to operate both local and international flights. Khalid al-Khaibary, the spokesman for GACA, said 14 companies had applied for licenses and the government had yet to decide on how many carriers it would authorise. "The requests for proposals will be handed toward the end of May with a deadline to receive bids by the end of August. Winners will be awarded licenses in September," Khaibary told Reuters by telephone. National carrier Saudi Airlines and budget airline National Air Services (NAS) now serve a domestic market of around 27m people. But with a price cap on domestic flights, private airlines have struggled with their profit margins. In 2010, a third carrier, Sama Airlines, was forced to suspend its operations. Saudi Airlines, which is undergoing a slow privatisation process, receives fuel at subsidised prices unlike private carriers, allowing it to offset the limits of the ticket cost ceiling.