Al-Jasser appointed new Saudia chief

Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser has been appointed director-general of Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The airline’s board of directors, chaired by Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation and chairman of Saudia’s board, made the appointment. Al-Jasser will take charge as the new Saudia chief on Aug. 3, an official statement said.
Al-Jasser replaces Khaled Al-Molhem, who served the organization for eight years and presided over its privatization program.
Al-Jasser has about 30 years of experience in business management, as well as in the maritime, land and air transport fields. He has worked both in the public and private sectors, acquiring huge experience in managing major companies. Al-Jasser holds a master’s in business management from King Saud University and a bachelor’s in industrial engineering from King Abdulaziz University.
He has attended advanced management training courses at Harvard University, INSEAD in France and Oxford in Britain, as well as Chase Manhattan Bank’s advanced credit training program.
Al-Jasser has served as CEO of the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia since November 2010 and was executive director-general of the Abdullatif Company from 2003 to 2010.
He has held leadership positions in the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and the Saudi Industrial Development Fund and is a board member of different companies, including Saudia, the Saudi Research & Marketing Group, the Saudi Civil Aviation Company, Mobily and Saudi Post.
The appointment comes at a time when the airline industry is facing several challenges as a result of rapid developments taking place in the air transport market in terms of regional and international competition and the increasing numbers of passengers traveling between Saudi cities, Al-Jasser said.
Al-Jasser thanked the airline’s chairman and board members for reposing their confidence in him.

He emphasized the need for providing an adequate number of seats to meet growing demand, improving operation efficiency and enhancing customer services to realize the expectations of Saudi citizens and other beneficiaries of the airline’s services.