KARACHI: Air Karachi, Pakistan’s new private airline in the making, has engaged the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for the supply of airliners to start its flight operations, the group chairman Hanif Gohar told Arab News on Friday.

Spearheaded by a group of leading businessmen from Pakistan’s southern port city, the airline is also negotiating with global aerospace giants like Boeing and Airbus for the acquisition of at least three passenger aircraft. It was launched in November 2024 by 100 stakeholders with Rs5 billion ($17.6 million) in seed money.

“We are talking with COMAC regarding the 919, as well as with Boeing and Airbus, to acquire the aircraft,” Gohar said, referring to a narrow-body passenger jet developed by China.

Business leaders in the South Asian nation have stepped up to fill the gap as the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has become a liability for the cash-strapped government, which is now making a second attempt to privatize the national carrier.

“We will start our flight operations as soon as we reach an agreement with any of the suppliers, whoever comes first,” Gohar said when asked about the timeline to start operations.

Gohar, a business tycoon himself, expects a deal within the next month.

He said Air Karachi would initially fly three aircraft domestically, and the fleet would later be expanded with four more planes to start international flights within a year.

The idea to launch a business-backed airline was conceived to develop an entity that can operate with efficiency and financial autonomy amid growing challenges faced by PIA.

Last month, Air Karachi received its Regular Public Transport (RPT) license from Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.

The airline has been modeled after the success of Air Sial, another private carrier launched by industrialists in Sialkot, the manufacturing hub of Pakistan’s exportable sports and surgical goods.

RIYADH: Real estate loans by Saudi Arabia’s commercial banks climbed to a record SR922.2 billion ($245.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, marking an annual increase of just over 15 percent.

Based on data from the Kingdom’s central bank, also known as SAMA, this expansion is the fastest year-on-year growth in nearly two years, and underscores a robust resurgence in property financing.

This was driven chiefly by a surge in lending to commercial real estate projects even as home mortgages, which still form the lion’s share, grew at a more moderate pace.

Saudi banks’ retail mortgages, which are primarily home loans to individuals, accounted for about 75.8 percent of total outstanding real estate credit in the first quarter, reaching SR698.8 billion.

This represents an 11.7 percent year-on-year rise. Corporate real estate loans — the funding provided to developers and commercial ventures — grew nearly 27.5 percent over the same period to SR223.4 billion, outpacing the retail segment’s growth several times over.

Although smaller in absolute terms, the corporate real estate portfolio has been expanding at its fastest pace in almost a decade according to SAMA data, boosting its share of total real estate credit to roughly 24 percent and signaling a significant shift in banks’ lending focus.

Drive to boost home ownership

This marked rebalancing comes after a prolonged period during which Saudi bank lending was largely fueled by residential mortgages. Over the past few years, government-backed housing programs helped drive home ownership from under 50 percent a decade ago to over 65 percent by 2024.

That mortgage boom saw banks’ loan books tilt heavily toward retail customers. Now, a structural pivot is underway. Companies and developers have become the dominant force in credit growth as banks pivot from consumer finance to funding large projects and enterprises.

Business loans across all sectors now make up 55.3 percent of Saudi bank lending as of May according to SAMA data, up from about 52.9 percent a year ago, with corporate credit growing over 21 percent year on year, more than double the 10 percent rise in personal lending.

Bank credit to real estate has accelerated in tandem with high-profile initiatives, from new residential communities in major cities to the gigantic NEOM smart city, as well as Red Sea tourism resorts and other large mixed-use projects that require substantial funding for land acquisition, construction and development.

The momentum is further bolstered by upcoming global events like the 2030 FIFA World Cup and Expo 2030, which are expected to inject capital and spur even more infrastructure and real estate development in the lead-up to those events.

This reflects massive projects such as new airports, rail lines, and ports that are moving ahead and require significant funding. The government’s National Transport and Logistics Strategy envisages about $150 billion in infrastructure investments by 2030, with 80 percent of that expected to come from the private sector via public-private partnerships.

Accordingly, banks are playing a pivotal role by lending to contractors and logistics firms involved in these ventures, ensuring that crucial projects have the financing they need.

Policy support and bank strategies

Saudi authorities have actively fostered an environment to support this lending shift toward commercial projects. Strengthening the real estate and financial sectors is a key goal of Vision 2030, and the government has rolled out measures to encourage private investment in large developments.

One major approach is the promotion of public-private partnerships and improved financing mechanisms to draw in non-government capital. The government is collaborating with banks and investors to streamline funding for mega-projects, including establishing new specialized financing companies and joint venture models that ease funding constraints.

The Private Sector Participation Law enacted in 2021 provides a transparent legal framework for domestic and foreign investors to take part in infrastructure and real estate projects alongside the public sector.

By simplifying regulations, offering incentives, and even initiating early phases of key projects itself, to demonstrate viability, the state aims to boost private-sector confidence and lending to these ventures.

These initiatives are creating a more conducive climate for banks to extend credit to corporate clients, knowing that many projects have government backing or facilitation.

At the same time, Saudi banks themselves are adapting their strategies to sustain the lending boom while managing risks. Banks remain well-capitalized and have robust capital buffers, with sector-wide capital adequacy around 19 percent according to SAMA data, enabling them to expand credit without compromising stability.

Many lenders are also exploring innovative ways to unlock liquidity and fund new loans. 

Industry analysts point out that banks are considering mortgage securitization, converting pools of home loans into bonds that can be sold to investors, as a means to free up balance sheet capacity.

A recent report by Fitch Ratings likewise noted that turning mortgage assets into tradable securities would expand Saudi Arabia’s debt market and give banks an additional funding boost.

Such financial agility, combined with disciplined cost control and solid deposit growth, positions the banking sector to actively support the Kingdom’s development priorities and finance Vision 2030 initiatives on a larger scale.

Saudi interest rates, which move in tandem with US Federal Reserve policy, have risen to their highest levels in nearly two decades, a factor that might ordinarily cool credit demand. 

However, the strategic importance and expected returns of mega-projects mean that demand for credit remains strong even in a high-rate climate.

Many large-scale developments benefit from government guarantees or contracts that make bank financing viable despite higher interest costs, and banks are competing to syndicate and participate in these deals.