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Performance of Saudi Airlines Nearly Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels

An Airbus A330 of Saudia airline company, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, lands in Toulouse. (AFP file photo)
An Airbus A330 of Saudia airline company, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, lands in Toulouse. (AFP file photo)
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Performance of Saudi Airlines Nearly Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels

An Airbus A330 of Saudia airline company, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, lands in Toulouse. (AFP file photo)
An Airbus A330 of Saudia airline company, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, lands in Toulouse. (AFP file photo)

Sources working in the aviation sector said on Thursday that the air transport movement witnessed high growth, reaching 90 percent of pre-pandemic operation levels.

The growth was supported by a number of measures and the lifting of many travel restrictions on domestic and international flights.

Dr. Hussein Al-Zahrani, Chairman of the Aviation Committee in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, said that the situation was improving significantly compared to last year, with the lifting of travel restrictions and the development of major tourism projects.

This recovery will accelerate various investments in the aviation sector, which seeks to raise the operation capacity to 330 million passengers and 4.5 million tons of goods by 2030, while increasing the number of international routes and flights to more than 250 destinations.

“The market allows the access of new companies into the sector, depending on the issuance of new licenses and the readiness of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Zahrani said.

Aircraft manufacturers have anticipated the recovery in a number of markets by accelerating their operations. Airbus earlier announced plans to speed up the manufacturing of its best-selling single-aisle aircraft, A320, amid expectations of reaching a record level in 2023. Boeing, for its part, expected that airlines will need 43,000 new aircraft by 2039, which means doubling the global fleet.

In this context, the Saudi market appears as one of the most important options for these companies and investors, with Saudi Arabia launching the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services, which aims to consolidate the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics hub linking three continents.

The Saudi Ministry of Transport revealed its plan to implement 300 giant projects with financial investments exceeding 500 billion riyals (USD 133 billion) and investment opportunities for the private sector in operation, construction and maintenance exceeding 100 billion riyals (USD 26.6 billion).

Mohammad Khoja, an investor and specialist in the aviation sector, told Asharq Al-Awsat that all indicators point to the improvement in the aviation performance at the local level, following a period of great recession due to the pandemic.

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Egypt’s Suez Canal Revenues Rise 14% as Red Sea Tensions Ease

Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)
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Egypt’s Suez Canal Revenues Rise 14% as Red Sea Tensions Ease

Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Ships move through the Suez Canal, in Ismalia, Egypt, July 31, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt's Suez Canal revenues rose 14.2% year-on-year between July and October, the canal authority said on Tuesday, citing calmer conditions in the Red Sea after a ceasefire in Gaza and a pick up in traffic through the vital waterway.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched more than 100 attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait that links them in 2023 and 2024 in what they described as solidarity with the Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza, prompting many shippers to switch to alternative routes.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said 229 ships returned to transit through the canal in October, the highest monthly figure since the start of the regional crisis, adding that traffic volumes and tonnage had shown a "relative improvement" in recent months.

From July to October, 4,405 vessels carrying 185 million metric tons passed through the canal, compared with 4,332 ships carrying 167.6 million tons in the same period last year, Rabie told Reuters during a meeting with representatives from 20 major shipping lines in Ismailia.

Rabie said the positive atmosphere following last month's Sharm el-Sheikh summit on Gaza's future had encouraged many carriers to resume using the canal.

He invited global shipping companies to conduct trial voyages through the waterway, underscoring Egypt's efforts to restore confidence among maritime operators after months of disruption in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab region.

French shipping line CMA CGM has already resumed crossings with two large container vessels, while other operators, including MSC, Ever Green, and Cosco, said they were considering expanding their activity through the canal as conditions stabilise.

The Suez Canal, the fastest sea route between Europe and Asia, remains a key source of hard currency for Egypt, which has faced financial strain amid regional instability and reduced transit traffic earlier this year.

Business

Putin Orders Road Map for Russian Rare Earths Extraction 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Putin Orders Road Map for Russian Rare Earths Extraction 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Presidential Aide, Special Presidential Representative for Climate Issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday Nov. 1, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered the Russian cabinet to draw up by December 1 a road map for the extraction of rare earth minerals.

In a list of tasks for ministers published on the Kremlin website, Putin also ordered the cabinet to take measures to develop transport links at Russia's borders with China and North Korea.

Rare earths - used in smartphones, electric vehicles and weapons systems - have taken on vital strategic importance in international trade.

In April, US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Ukraine that will give the US preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in the country's reconstruction.

Russia says it is also interested in partnering with the US on rare earth projects, but prospects have been held up by a lack of progress towards ending the war in Ukraine.

China, the dominant producer of rare earths, has hit back at US tariffs this year by placing restrictions on their export.

Putin's order - a summary of action points from a Far Eastern Economic Forum he attended in Vladivostok in September - did not go into detail about Russia's rare earths plan.

Among other points, he also instructed the government to develop "multimodal transport and logistics centers" on the Chinese and North Korean borders.

Putin said the locations should include two existing railway bridges linking Russia and China and a planned new bridge to North Korea which he said must be commissioned in 2026.

Both of Russia's far eastern neighbors have deepened economic ties with Moscow since Western countries imposed sanctions on it over its war in Ukraine.

Business

Türkiye Central Bank’s Total Reserves Fell $1.5 Bln Last Week, Bankers Say 

People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)
People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Central Bank’s Total Reserves Fell $1.5 Bln Last Week, Bankers Say 

People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)
People board a ferryboat, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 4, 2025. (AFP)

The Turkish Central Bank's total reserves fell by another $1.5 billion last week, according to bankers' calculations, after having dropped by double-digits in the week of October 24.

According to the calculations, which were based on the central bank's leading indicators, gross reserves fell to $184 billion, while net reserves rose by $1.5-2 billion to stand at $69.5 billion.

The decline in global gold prices caused a drop of $1 billion last week, after having caused a decrease of more than $5 billion the previous week.

Bankers calculated that the central bank, which sold $5.5 billion in foreign currency the previous week, bought $1.5 billion in foreign currency last week. Official data is expected to be announced on Thursday.