Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) has awarded carrier licences to Gulf Air and Qatar Airways – the first foreign airlines to win such a licence in the kingdom, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported yesterday.

The licence, which 14 companies had applied for, is to operate both local and international flights, GACA has previously said.

Until now only the national carrier Saudi Airlines and budget airline National Air Services have serviced a domestic market of around 27 million people.-Reuters