With a new leader at the helm, Saudia Cargo is focusing on its customers as it takes on the challenge of growing the business from a region which is fiercely competitive.

“Our priority is to serve our customers with competitive services,” said Omar Hariri, who was appointed as the new chief executive officer of Saudia Cargo in March 2018. “We also want to develop our business in cooperation with our partners around the world so that forwarders and clients can develop their own business based on fast and reliable services from Saudia Cargo via the extensive network of Saudia Airlines, as well as our new and modern freighters.”

The carrier’s fleet currently consists of a combination of Boeing 747-400Fs, 747-8Fs and 777Fs.

“All the new 777Fs are operating well and have served us well in 2017 and 2018,” said Hariri. “In addition we operate capacities such as 747-8 and 747-400 to and from attractive markets in order to serve our customers. The airline industry is dynamic and we continuously evaluate and pursue the opportunities in the marketplace based on an effective and efficient platform.”

In line with Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Program to diversify the economy away from energy and oil, and as part of the crown prince’s broader Saudi Vision 2030 to upgrade the country, Saudia Cargo has also been implementing its own Strategic Transformation Plan 2020 so that it can play an even larger role in Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector.

“We grew with very steady steps in 2017, even though it started with some challenges,” said Adel Sallam, marketing manager of Saudia Cargo, in an interview during the Air Cargo India 2018 conference and exhibition in Mumbai in February. “We changed our strategy with new event branding, new market positioning and we were able to deliver our message to our customers.”

According to Sallam, the principal message that Saudia Cargo wanted its customers to understand is that the carrier is challenging itself to enhance and grow the business with them.

“Being based in the Middle East, we can transfer goods and shipments effectively between the East and the West,” he said. “That has always been our vision but with our new position, we aspire to move anything anywhere, at any time. Of course, differentiating is the most important because we’re surrounded by big players and they are also very serious. But our strength is that we are a specialized, totally independent air cargo company. We are not a division of the passenger airline. That’s what gives us flexibility and support. That’s our unique selling proposition and that’s what we depend on.”

In order to communicate better with customers, Saudia Cargo has been establishing new channels that allow the carrier to reach and connect with them in a new and interactive way.

“We also strive to reach even more customers and this is what we’re doing everyday by trying to expand our network,” Sallam said. “Another objective is to deliver on new products and services that we’re launching this year and to make our customers aware of them.”

One example of that is Saudia Cargo’s new FlyPharma product, launched just this month and specifically developed for customers in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector. In parallel with that, the carrier also inaugurated a cold chain facility at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport with 1,010 square metres of pharmaceutical-handling space.

“We have listened, as always, to our customers, their feedback and expectations during face-to-face meetings and analyzed the results of food and drug shipment surveys,” Hariri said. “We built on the feedback and results and came up with a good perception that helped us launch the new project, which is the first step taken in line with Saudia Cargo’s new transformation strategy.”

The aim is to set up similar facilities across Saudi Arabia, with plans already in place to launch an 800-square-metre pharmaceutical facility in Riyadh to support the FlyPharma product.

Elsewhere, Saudia Cargo is keen to do more with e-commerce, especially having seen the growing volumes out of China, where it serves Guangzhou and Hong Kong with freighters.

“We do not plan to disregard this strong market and the strong exports from China to Europe,” said Sallam. “We understand our role in this and we’re serious about the challenge of taking a good slice of this e-commerce business from China.”

But no matter the segment, both Hariri and Sallam stress that Saudia Cargo is constantly targeting forwarders and GSAs and informing them of its safety, security, reliability and speed so that the carrier will always be at the top of their mind when it comes to planning partnerships.

“We are deeply engaged with our customers’ needs and are committed to investing in products and services that will offer them the best in the industry,” said Hariri. “More investments and improvements are in the pipeline, because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia means business.”

By Jeffrey Lee

Asia Cargo News | Hong Kong