Swissport has added Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz International Airport at Al-Ula (ULH) to its growing network in Saudi Arabia.
The first flight serviced by Swissport was a Royal Jordanian flight arriving from Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan.
Swissport, an airport ground services and air cargo handling operator, will provide Royal Jordanian with passenger services and ramp handling at Al-Ula. Initially, Swissport will handle two weekly flights to and from Amman. The company expects flight volumes in Saudi Arabia to grow significantly as more airlines add destinations or increase frequencies in the Kingdom.
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“We are delighted to be able to offer our high-quality aviation services at Al-Ula and are honored by the trust our launching customer Royal Jordanian places in us,” says Chris Browne, CEO of Swissport Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ula is Swissport’s sixth airport in Saudi Arabia, and the start of operations at Al-Ula underlines Swissport’s strategic commitment to Saudi Arabia.
“Jointly with ASYAD Holding, our Saudi joint-venture partner, we have ambitious plans and are committed to contributing towards the Saudi Vision 2030, which will place the Kingdom’s aviation sector in the ivy-league of global aviation,“ says Dirk Goovaerts, Swissport’s CEO for Continental Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Al-Ula is an ancient Arabian oasis and market town on the historic Incense Route that connected India and the Gulf with the Levant and Europe. Today, it is a growing tourism destination in Saudi Arabia, known for its landscape of cliffs, gorges and wadis. In 2023, Al-Ula airport welcomed more than two million passengers.
Operating since 2016
Swissport has been present in Saudi Arabia since 2016 when it started its operations in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. The company has since continuously expanded its business and turned its presence from a greenfield startup into an established business with a broad customer base of regional and international carriers.
In 2023, Swissport in Saudi Arabia served 7.7m passengers (up 49 percent vs. 2022) and handled some 28,000 flights (up 39 percent vs. 2022).
