Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) plans to launch a new airline - Al-Maha Airways - in July as part of its big expansion strategy, said a report.

The GACA also aims to convert all regional airports in the kingdom into international airports and link small cities together without the need for passengers to travel by Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to reach their destinations under this ambitious plan, reported The Saudi Gazette, citing a senior official.

Captain Abdul Hakim Al Badr, Gaca VP (Air transport and security and safety) said the plan to license a new Saudi airline company was to ensure fair competition among operating airlines.

“It will also help reduce air ticket prices and improve quality of service. We want to open ticket fares without putting any cap in order to promote fair competition,” he stated.

“We’ll also license a new ground service company,” he added.

Hinting at Gaca’s plan to privatise airports, Al-Badr said: "We intend to discard ownership of airports in the near future. Our role will be limited to supervision.

“Airports that receive flights from outside the Kingdom will be named international airports. Consequently the standards and licenses of international airports would be applied on them,” stated the top official.

"We have also approved a model for regional airports to link smaller cities without passing by Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam,” he added.