Riyadh-SPA - Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday issued a royal decree appointing the young Saudi academic Abdulhadi Al-Mansouri as president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation with the rank of Minister. Mansouri was deputy minister of transport since the middle of last year.

"I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for their kind confidence in appointing me as President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation," he said. I ask God to live up to the Leadership´s expectations and to grant me success in contributing to the realization of its aspirations to develop the civil aviation sector in the Kingdom. " 

The full name of the new Saudi official is Abdul Hadi bin Ahmed bin Abdul Wahab Al Mansouri. He was born in 1976 and holds a bachelor´s degree in computer science from King Abdulaziz University. His former work stations include the positions of Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Health for Human Resources, Adviser to the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and Director of Human Resources in that Ministry, and a Ministry of Transport for Common Services. A few days ago, Mansouri represented his country at the extraordinary General Assembly meeting of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization in the Moroccan capital of Rabat.

Saudi Arabia has been investing in a large number of young academics skills in leadership positions in conjunction with the country´s nearly three-year effort to implement a giant development plan aimed at diversifying the economy´s income sources away from oil. The plan, named "Vision 2030," includes the development of the air transport sector, which will generate significant financial returns for large investment projects, including the privatization of a number of airports in the Kingdom.