SATS wins 25-year cargo terminal concession in Riyadh

SATS Saudi Arabia Company, a subsidiary of parent ground handling service provider SATS, has won a cargo terminal concession in Riyadh International Airport (RUH), the Main Board-listed company announced in a bourse filing this morning. The move is intended to establish a cargo corridor for the company in the Middle East linking Oman, Dammam and Riyadh, and its broader Asian network.

The SATS Cargo Terminal at RUH will be constructed over two phases, with the first phase expected to be complete in mid-2022. Upon its full completion, the cargo terminal will have the capacity to handle up to 600,000 tonnes of cargo per annum. The building is also planned to include cold-chain facilities for handling specialty cargo, such as temperature-sensitive perishables and pharmaceutical products.

SATS currently operates 10 cargo terminals in Asia at Beijing (PEK), Dammam (DMM), Ho Chi Minh (SGN), Hong Kong (HKG), Jakarta (CGK), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Mumbai (BOM), Bengaluru (BLR), Oman (MCT) and Singapore (SIN) airports. The new Riyadh cargo terminal will become SATS’ second cargo operation in Saudi Arabia, after its current operation at DMM that launched in 2016.

RUH handles close to 40% of air cargo volumes in Saudi Arabia, SATS President and CEO Alex Hungate said. “Connected to our stations in Dammam and Oman, and our extensive Asian network, RUH will extend SATS’ network of quality cargo corridors to offer our customers greater connectivity and quality assurance, while supporting Saudi Arabia’s rapidly growing cargo market and logistics infrastructure,” he stated.

The investment in the Riyadh cargo terminal concession is not expected to have any material impact on SATS’ net tangible assets per share and earnings per share for the current financial year, the company concluded in its bourse filing.