Saudi’s national flag carrier has canceled its contract with a Portuguese airline after the latter flew an empty plane carrying the former’s logo to Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, local media has reported.
Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA), in a statement, said that the plane did not belong to its fleet, but rather to Portuguese company Hi Fly, which was contracted by the SAA to provide planes along with their crews for commercial operations if and when needed.
The statement came after Israeli media reported that a Saudi passenger plane landed at Ben Gurion airport Tuesday night for technical maintenance. A photo of the plane carrying the SAA logo at the Israeli airport had also created a buzz on Saudi social media.
The SAA said that the plane was out of its service when Hi Fly took it for repair in Brussels before the photo in question emerged.
It added that it had decided to cancel the contract with the company after the latter violated the terms of their contract, which states that the SAA must approve the airports where the planes carrying its logo land beforehand.
Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel and has no diplomatic relations with the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
(AA)
