Saudi Aramco Aviation (Dammam) has been “privatised and transformed into an independent company” under the name Mukamalah Aviation (Dammam), according to a video that has been circulating on Twitter, a new LinkedIn page, but not as yet its own website.
Aramco confirmed to Forbes Middle East that the wholly-owned subsidiary, previously one of the Saudi petrochemical giant’s departments, had become a separate entity in an effort to boost efficiency. The transition, it said in an email, “has been completed without changes to staff and quality of service.”
The move aims to “increase operational efficiency and improve the Kingdom’s corporate aviation and logistics sector in line with Vision 2030.” Mukamalah will continue to provide flight services to Aramco, it added.
The new identity of Mukamalah Aviation was unveiled on May 26 in a video circulated on social media. On the same day, Saudi Arabia’s National Aviation Academy signed a memorandum of understanding to continue to train Mukamalah’s pilots.
A LinkedIn page describes Mukamalah Aviation Company Limited as the country’s first aviation firm, “established in 1934 under the name of Saudi Aramco Aviation with the core mission of oil exploration through the vast Saudi desert.” From its Dammam headquarters, it “operates 49 aircraft from different fleets all serving different purposes” and “regularly serves 18 airports throughout Saudi Arabia, nine of which Mukamalah fully manages, serves, and operates, and more than 300 helipads, both on and offshore.”
It provides “business flights to corporate clients and all interested organisations” as well as “passenger and cargo transport, medical evacuation, geological surveying, and search and rescue missions, just to name a few.” Besides its Saudi AOC, it also holds US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Mukamalah Aviation operates a fleet of seven B737-800s and one B767-200ER among various other fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft.
Reports emerged in June 2019 that Saudi Aramco was considering spinning off its Saudi Aramco Aviation unit as it prepared for its then-much-anticipated IPO, as part of a wider restructuring of assets and streamlining of core operations. However, the IPO went ahead in December 2019 with the unit attached.
