THC CEO Voices Ambitions for Becoming Popular Mode of Transport in Saudi

The Helicopter Company is Saudi Arabia’s first and only private helicopter company | Asharq Al-Awsat
The Helicopter Company is Saudi Arabia’s first and only private helicopter company | Asharq Al-Awsat
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THC CEO Voices Ambitions for Becoming Popular Mode of Transport in Saudi

The Helicopter Company is Saudi Arabia’s first and only private helicopter company | Asharq Al-Awsat
The Helicopter Company is Saudi Arabia’s first and only private helicopter company | Asharq Al-Awsat

The Helicopter Company CEO Yahya Al-Ghoraibi believes that his company’s commercial worth is embedded in its ability to save the time of clients looking for an efficient mode of transportation.

Ghoraibi looks forward to helicopter transport becoming popular in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow, Ghoraibi revealed that the company plans to put a fleet of 50 helicopters of all sizes to work.

He explained that the company plans to provide air taxi services in the Kingdom, pointing out that among the company's plans is to also commercially operate routes out of Saudi Arabia starting to neighboring Gulf countries, but stressed that this comes at a second stage.

The Helicopter Company (THC), Saudi Arabia’s first and only private helicopter company, aims to provide a faster travel option for residents, pilgrims and visitors to the Kingdom, especially those who want to see hard-to-reach sites that have been opened up for tourism.

THC, fully owned by the Public Investment Fund, has already registered over 140 flights for customers.

Also in its services menu are private transport, emergency medical evacuations and tourism transfers. The company also works with hospitals and emergency services to provide support in areas in the Kingdom which are hard to reach by land, as well as providing flights for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

The company also works with hospitals and emergency services to provide support in areas in the Kingdom which are hard to reach by land, as well as providing flights for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

Speaking about challenges facing the sector today, Al-Ghoraibi said: “The challenges are to keep up with the changes that are happening in Saudi Arabia for the better.”

“We currently have 13 highly qualified pilots, 12 of whom are Saudi nationals, and 65 employees, 60 of whom are Saudi nationals,” Al-Ghoraibi added on the level of localization within the company.



Qatar PM Hopes Palestinian Authority Will Return to Gaza When War Ends

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
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Qatar PM Hopes Palestinian Authority Will Return to Gaza When War Ends

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025. (AFP)

Qatar's Prime Minister said in Davos on Tuesday he hoped the Palestinian Authority would return to play a governing role in Gaza once the war with Israel comes to an end.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland, two days after the ceasefire Qatar helped broker came into effect in Gaza, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani cautioned that Gazans -- and not any other country -- should dictate the way the enclave will be governed.

"We hope to see the PA back in Gaza. We hope to see a government that will really address the issues of the people over there. And there is a long way to go with Gaza and the destruction," he said.

How Gaza will be governed after the war was not directly addressed in the deal between Israel and Hamas movement that led to an immediate ceasefire and hostage releases after nearly 15 months of talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Israel has rejected any governing role for Hamas, which ran Gaza before the war, but it has been almost equally opposed to rule by the Palestinian Authority, the body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords three decades ago that has limited governing power in the West Bank.

The PA, dominated by the Fatah faction created by former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, faces opposition from rival faction Hamas, which drove the PA out of Gaza in 2007 after a brief war.