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Posts Tagged ‘GACA’

The New Jeddah Airport

17 Nov
I am not sure how to start this post. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the news of the new Jeddah airport. Let’s put it this way; I am of course happy that a new giant service project will take place in my beloved city, I am just not so enthusiastic about the news!!

Here is the summary of the project:

  • First contract, costs SAR 15.12 billion:
    • Constructing a 670,000 square-meter terminal with 94 aircraft bays.
    • 200 counters
    • Advanced luggage handling system.
    • 46 departure gate.
    • 4 first class lounges and 1 for business class.
    • 96 airway bridges.
    • 56 room hotel.
    • Duty free shops.
  • Second contract, costs SAR 11.97 billion:
    • Constructing the world tallest airport control tower at 133 meters.
    • 8200 car parking lots.
    • 3 power generations and cool centers.
    • Data centers.
    • Road Network.

So the total project with its two contracts would worth about SAR 27.1 billion (about $7.2 billion.) The targeted time is 36 months. Allow me to repeat this last part, the targeted time is 36 months (3 years)!!!!!!!!!

We have nothing but to wait and see how such a giant project would take 3 years to be completed. I can already hear some of you whispering that building a bridge inside the city usually takes more than that, it’s Jeddah, right!! Let’s try to be optimistic this time, so let’s not go down this road right away.

Another remark is about the tallest control tower. Again, it is our strange obsession in this part of the world with the tallest, the biggest, etc. I am sure a lot of you would agree that as long as the control tower is doing its proper duties, being the tallest or the shortest would not make that much of difference!

Lastly, it is good to mention that the construction cost of this airport is within the average, given that it seems to be huge at first! The airport construction costs would equal about 36% of the currently most expensive airport in Hong Kong at a record of $20 billion. The new Dubai world central international will claim that position upon completion at $33 billion.   Now it would also be good to wonder how GACA would market/position this airport in the area with the presence of strong competitors in Dubai and Qatar!!!

Let’s wait and see!!

 
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Posted in Project Management, Saudi business

 

Sama; Another Sad Story of Saudi Aviation Industry

24 Aug

The Saudi low budget Sama Airlines is suspending its operations in the Kingdom starting today until further notice.

Should this be a surprise? I would say: No, it was expected!

The whole scene of civil aviation industry in Saudi does not look that good. Whether we are talking airports or airliners, It is a mess, to say the least!

Operating an airlines is a tough business, no doubt about it. Lots of head to head competition and very turbulent business environment. And when you are working in a messy market like the one both Sama and Nas had stepped in, the situation becomes even harder.

I am not sure what kind of business plans they had both studied to reach the decision that the Saudi market is an attractive investment opportunity. Maybe by only looking at the status of Saudia and how almost all Saudis agree that it suck! the idea of having a second airlines should’ve looked appealing. The fact of the matter is that Saudia is a company both owned and supported by the government. And what makes it even worse for commercial activities in such market is when the regulator (GACA in this situation) does not provide any guarantees to protect the fairness of competition. Maybe the new comers received some promises, but businesses are not usually built on promises, they are built on facts, at least when it comes to the market environment.

Now both of the companies are waiting for the promises to be fulfilled especially for fueling prices. It could be a tactic played by Sama to get the attention of higher authorities although it is a hugely damaging move to the company name (especially that Nas did not play along, if it was a tactic!!)

It is another sad story added to the book of sad stories of Saudi airlines business!!

 
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Posted in Branding, General Management, Saudi business

 

GACA; Stating the Obvious

02 Jul

I am not able to understand the strange desire of some organizations to have press coverages or to have press releases when they do not have anything new to say, or when what they have to say is sooooooooo obvious, to say the least!

You want an example; here is one. Freshly coming from GACA (General Authority of Civil Aviation). In this weird press coverage, I failed to come up with any significant new information or any details of useful rules that will make my life easier as a customer of this governmental organization.

Let’s have some highlights:

  • ‘We aim to ensure passenger safety through the implementation of several safety procedures.’
    • Daaah!! Should we become impressed or something? This is one of your main goals, isn’t?
  • He added that passengers often become angry due to flight delays and cancellations during the summer, but this is because they fail to understand that flight activity increases during the summer and that there can be issues with the climate.
    • And this is the worst of them all. We, the customers, fail to understand that flights usually increase during the summer!!! So it is not that travelers via Saudi airports usually suffer from poor services and lack of organization, we are the one who fail to understand!!!
  • “We are cooperating with aviation companies to arrange a limited number of scheduled flights. We will schedule the number of daily flights in each airport. We define the number of flights according to an airport’s lounges, paths and runaways … Our domestic and international airports are equipped with the latest equipment that allows planes to land from very high altitudes and when the vision is poor,” he added.
    • Yeah … Ok … What are you trying to say??? I did not get it?
  • In order to deal with any potential challenges caused by changes in the weather, GACA has signed an agreement with the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment that would see the two bodies collaborating with each other.
    • Please tell me that this is not a NEW agreement!! Haven’t you been dealing with PME before? and you’re just starting now!

This is only a classical example of a PR activity that does not add any value to the organization, actually, it might hurt it. Stating the obvious is not a goal of PR, and insulting customer is certainly not a PR acceptable technique!!!

 
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Posted in Communication, Public Relations