SAL grows capacity with expansion

The first phase of SAL Saudi Logistics Services’ expansion project at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been inaugurated.

Saudi Arabia minister of Transport and Logistics, His Excellency Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser inaugurated the first phase of the project, which is expected to boost the annual capacity of SAL to 1.1m tonnes.

Measuring 40,000 sq m, the new facility is designed to improve ground handling operations and will offer cargo facilities, import and export services, medical and food cold chain services, plus handling of dangerous cargo.

The Minister had an inspection tour around the automated handling system, advanced refrigeration facilities and area dedicated to medical and food shipments.

SAL is the ground cargo handling division of Saudia, the national carrier. It is present across Saudi Arabia’s airports and has major operations at four key hubs – Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah. SAL handles 99% of the country’s inbound and outbound air cargo.

The company is investing over SAR1.5bn to upgrade its operations to help meet expected significant growth in air cargo over the next decade as well as demand for specialist services.

In Riyadh and Jeddah, SAL is adding new technology-enabled, fully integrated facilities that are cutting handling times and increasing capacity to handle perishables and complex products such as pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

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