SAL signs ground handling agreement with China's SF Airlines

Published: 2026-07-14T10:45:38.000Z

SAL Saudi Logistics Services has added another Chinese carrier to its books, signing a renewable annual agreement with SF Airlines to provide integrated air cargo ground handling in the Kingdom. The deal, struck through SAL's Ground Handling Division, will see the Saudi company take on services such as cargo handling and the loading and offloading of aircraft for SF Airlines, one of China's largest dedicated cargo carriers and a subsidiary of the delivery giant SF Express. A bourse filing was clear about the commercial mechanics, noting the agreement carries no fixed value, with services delivered on demand at prices set out in the contract. The identity of the partner is the part worth dwelling on. SF Airlines was established in 2009 as a specialised cargo airline, is headquartered in Shenzhen, and operates through major hubs in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Beijing and Ezhou, feeding a global network that spans more than 130 destinations. Locking in ground handling for a carrier of that reach gives SAL a steady stream of Chinese freight moving through Saudi airports, and it deepens a commercial relationship between the two countries that has been thickening for years. China now ranks as one of the Kingdom's largest trading partners, topping both its export and import tables in recent months, which makes reliable air cargo infrastructure between the two more than a convenience. For SAL the agreement is one more entry in a busy stretch of deal-making rather than a one-off. Only weeks earlier the company signed a comparable ground handling arrangement with Singapore Airlines at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, and it has been steadily assembling a portfolio of partnerships with leading global carriers. The strategy is straightforward, since ground handling is a volume business where each new airline relationship adds throughput and spreads fixed costs across more flights. Chief executive Omar bin Talal Hariri has framed these tie-ups as proof of the reliability of SAL's operations and as a way of cementing Saudi Arabia's standing as a hub for transport and logistics. The regional context is what gives the deal its strategic weight. Saudi Arabia has poured investment into logistics under Vision 2030, and its national aviation strategy sets bold targets of 4.5 million tonnes of annual air cargo capacity and connections to more than 250 destinations by 2030. That ambition puts the Kingdom in direct competition with the region's established freight powerhouses, above all Dubai and its Emirates SkyCargo operation, along with Qatar and its cargo arm. By courting Chinese carriers specifically, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself along one of the world's busiest trade corridors, betting that its geography between Asia, Europe and Africa can turn it into a genuine crossroads rather than simply a destination.