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GACA Issues Airport Performance Report for August 2023

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued on Sunday its August report on the performance of domestic and international airports in Saudi Arabia.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued on Sunday its August report on the performance of domestic and international airports in Saudi Arabia.
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GACA Issues Airport Performance Report for August 2023

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued on Sunday its August report on the performance of domestic and international airports in Saudi Arabia.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued on Sunday its August report on the performance of domestic and international airports in Saudi Arabia.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued on Sunday its August report on the performance of domestic and international airports in Saudi Arabia.

Airports are assessed according to 14 basic performance measurement criteria. The assessment comes in implementation of the strategic directions aimed at improving the services provided to and the traveler experience across the Kingdom’s airports.

King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), King Fahd International Airport (KFIA), Abha International Airport, Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport in Qassim and Gurayat Domestic Airport came top in the report.

For fairness in evaluating the performance of airports, GACA divides their performance into five categories.

Among international airports with more than 15 million passengers annually, Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport came in first place, with a compliance rate of 91%, followed by Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport with 82%.

In the category of international airports with five to 15 million passengers annually, KFIA led with a compliance rate of 82%, Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport achieved a compliance rate, of 82%, and KFIA outperformed Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in terms of the average waiting time for arriving and departing flights.

Among international airports with two to five million passengers annually, Abha International Airport came in first place, with a 91% compliance rate and King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jizan followed with an 82% compliance rate.

In the category of international airports with less than two million passengers, Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport achieved a 100% compliance rate, outperforming peers in terms of total average waiting time for departing and arriving flights.

Regarding domestic airports, Gurayat Domestic Airport came on top with a 100% compliance rate, surpassing peers in terms of total average waiting time for departing and arriving flights.

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IMF: Pakistan Wins More Financing Assurances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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IMF: Pakistan Wins More Financing Assurances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Pakistan has received “significant financing assurances” from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates linked to a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) program that go beyond a deal to roll over $12 billion in bilateral loans owed to them by Islamabad, IMF Pakistan Mission Chief Nathan Porter said on Thursday.

Porter declined to provide details of additional financing amounts committed by the three countries but said they would come on top of the debt rollover.

The IMF's Executive Board on Wednesday approved a new $7 billion loan for cash-strapped Pakistan, more than two months after the two sides said they had reached an agreement.

The loan — which Islamabad will receive in installments over 37 months — is aimed at boosting Pakistan's ailing economy.

“I won't go into the specifics, but UAE, China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia all provided significant financing assurances joined up in this program,” Porter told reporters on a conference call.

The global lender said its immediate disbursement will be about $1 billion.

In a statement issued Thursday, the IMF praised Pakistan for taking key steps to restore economic stability. Growth has rebounded, inflation has fallen to single digits, and a calm foreign exchange market have allowed the rebuilding of reserve buffers.

But it also criticized authorities. The IMF warned that, despite the progress, Pakistan’s vulnerabilities and structural challenges remained formidable.

It said a difficult business environment, weak governance, and an outsized role of the state hindered investment, while the tax base remained too narrow.

“Spending on health and education has been insufficient to tackle persistent poverty, and inadequate infrastructure investment has limited economic potential and left Pakistan vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” it warned.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement hailed the deal that his team had been negotiating with the IMF since June.

Sharif, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, told Pakistani media that the country had fulfilled all of the lender’s conditions, with help from China and Saudi Arabia.

“Without their support, this would not have been possible,” he said, without elaborating on what assistance Beijing and Riyadh had provided to get the deal over the line.

The Pakistani government has vowed to increase its tax intake, in line with IMF requirements, despite protests in recent months by retailers and some opposition parties over the new tax scheme and high electricity rates.

Pakistan for decades has been relying on IMF loans to meet its economic needs.

The latest economic crisis has been the most prolonged and has seen Pakistan facing its highest-ever inflation, pushing the country to the brink of a sovereign default last summer before an IMF bailout.

Inflation has since tempered, and credit ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded Pakistan’s local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to “Caa2” from “Caa3”, citing improving macroeconomic conditions and moderately better government liquidity and external positions.