What now for Saudi Arabian?
Hi everyone,
I've been looking at SV and thinking, where do they go from here?
Despite the rosy upbeat announcements of profitability and rising pax figures, there remains the odour of stagnation and decline in the Saudi flag carrier. Problems I see:
Hub problems: Jeddah is a disaster zone, and the much needed new terminal doesn't seem to be forthcoming anytime soon. They are constrained at the current terminal. It's totally unsuitable for connections.
Declining service: inflight product has fallen far behind the standards set by the competition. The quality of inflight service has also been declining. On the ground, things are worse. Ground services can at best be described as attrocious.
Bad image: The have a very poor image, thanks to declining standards, which is not helped by an inconsistent and badly executed corporate identity. They just don't look or act professional.
Fleet problems: Ageing widebodies (747 classics + A300s), poor choice of mainline narrowbody (the MD-90 is not as versatile as the A320 or B737NG, for instance it doesn't have the range for thin medium haul routes, and has poor residual value). We have to see how they go about freshening up their fleet in the upcoming years.
Declining network: Their network is shrinking alarmingly, particularly European destinations. This is in contrast to the competition who have much better coverage than SV does. They are fast turning into a regional carrier.
I'm not saying that Saudia is on the brink of collapse. But the way I see it, they're in the black because they have a soft local market pretty much all to themselves. But the landscape is changing. They are losing their domestic monopoly, and their longhaul operations face the considerable threat posed by aggressive rapidly expanding gulf carriers who are much more competitive than SV. The outlook is not good. They need to take action before it is too late. There is talk about privatisation, but will this bring about the needed changes?
Your opinions?