The airline agency will open a Saudi office, but denies it will become a regional headquarters Reuters

Cairo (Reuters)-Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that global airlines have agreed to open a regional headquarters in Riyadh, but the industry’s major trade association denied that it would become a regional base. This is the latest sensitive to the representation of foreign companies in the region evidence. kingdom.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on Wednesday evening that it had signed a “headquarters agreement” with the International Air Transport Association to open its “regional offices in the Kingdom.”

IATA, which represents approximately 290 airlines worldwide, currently has a regional office in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

The International Air Transport Association stated that the agency has agreed to set up an office in Saudi Arabia, but it does not agree to set up a regional headquarters.

“It will meet the growing needs of the (Saudi Arabia) industry. We have a regional headquarters in Amman and we will not transfer its functions to (Saudi Arabia),” an IATA spokesperson said via email.

GACA did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Saudi Arabia is putting pressure on companies to move regional offices to Saudi Arabia, and warned that from 2024, it will not award national contracts to companies with regional headquarters elsewhere.

This move is one of many recent economic and social reforms aimed at diversifying the economy and getting rid of dependence on oil.

Saudi Arabia announced last week a transportation and logistics plan aimed at making the country the fifth largest air transportation hub.

People familiar with the matter said that the planned new airlines will target international transit passenger traffic, confront Gulf giants Emirates and Qatar Airways, and open up a new front for regional competition.