SaudiGulf Airlines (SGQ, Dammam) has ferried one of four A320-200 (sl)s, placed into storage at Lourdes/Tarbes and Toulouse Blagnac earlier this year, to its home base, Dammam in Saudi Arabia. HZ-SGA (cn 6455) departed Toulouse for the Saudi oil hub on December 1 ch-aviation research has revealed.
Though it had planned to commence operations last month, the Kingdom's vice president for Safety & Air Transport Abdul Hakeem Al-Badr last month confirmed that the start-up would likely only launch later next year.
SaudiGulf, along with Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) subsidiary Al Maha Airways (Riyadh), were given the go-ahead to begin domestic operations by Riyadh in 2012. Since then, however, both have struggled to complete certification with the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) amid allegations of protectionism for incumbent local operators Saudia (SV, Jeddah International) and flynas (XY, Riyadh).
