Qatar Airways, Gulf Air Win Saudi Domestic Licenses

The Saudi aviation authority has awarded Qatar Airways and Bahrain's Gulf Air licenses to operate domestic flights in the vast desert kingdom.

The national carriers of the two neighboring Gulf states will be the first foreign airlines to operate domestic flights in the oil-rich nation, competing mainly with the government-owned Saudia and budget carrier NAS.

"The best bids came from Gulf Air and its partners, and Qatar Airways," the General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement late on Friday.

It said 14 companies had competed for the licenses, adding that the decision took into consideration the accumulated experience of the companies in air transport, as well as operational efficiency and financial solvency.

Saudi Arabia stretches over 2.149 million square kilometers (0.85 million square miles) of mainly desert covering most of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a population of more than 27 million, including around 8.5 million foreigners.

It has four international airports and 22 domestic airports.