Sal Logistics sees artificial intelligence redraw the map of Saudi air cargo
In airport warehouses, where paper once set the pace of work, algorithms now decide when a shipment moves and where it goes. Sal Logistics, the logistics arm of Saudia, did not stop at automating the existing process but reengineered the entire operation around a single principle: making information precede the shipment.
What began as an internal update two years ago has become today a central digital platform that connects the airline, customs, ground transport, and the end customer in a single data flow. The digital gateway "Cargo Gate", launched in "LIP 2026" in partnership with "Elm", now processes more than two hundred thousand electronic bookings, with an adoption rate of 92 percent of the customer base, and more than twelve thousand drivers and trucks registered. Numbers alone do not tell the whole story; the significance lies in the time saved by this adoption: operations teams prepare the shipment before the customer arrives, stations reduce unnecessary visits, and waiting in warehouses shrinks because information arrives before the truck.
Smart Station from Plane to Customer
The "Smart Station" program is the backbone of this transformation. It digitizes handling of the shipment from the moment the plane lands until the customer receives it, through real-time inventory visibility, automated warehouse operations, and proactive resource planning. The measured result: more than three hundred thousand work hours improved annually by eliminating repetitive manual tasks. Yet Simon Hassania, senior digital officer at Sal, puts it in a broader context: "The goal is not to become digital, the goal is to make the customer's life easier. Digitization is a tool, not the purpose."
Artificial Intelligence as an Invisible Partner in Operational Decision-Making
The next step goes beyond visibility and moves toward prediction. The "Smart Operations" platform currently under development aims to answer three operational questions in real time: which tasks are priority, where workers are needed, and where to place equipment. The final decision remains human, but the machine provides the picture before congestion forms. Hassania insists on a principle: "The customer should not see the artificial intelligence, they should only feel a better service."
This direction is supported by heavyweight technology partnerships: a memorandum of understanding with "Microsoft Arabia" in "LIP 2026" exploring cloud, analytics, and AI applications in logistics, and another with "Huawei" to use 5G, cloud computing, and green energy in logistics zones. The partnerships are not ornaments but infrastructure for a platform that connects data from the airline, the civil aviation authority, the General Authority of Zakat, Tax and Customs, and customers, replacing the manual coordination that has long slowed the chain.
Numbers Reflect Parallel Commercial Momentum
The digital transformation did not occur in isolation from financial performance. In the first half of 2026, Sal recorded a net profit of 347.99 million riyals (92.8 million dollars), up 10.35 percent year-on-year, and revenues jumped 23.12 percent to 957.92 million riyals. In August, a roughly 120 million-riyal acquisition of the Belgian "AviaPartner Leij" was completed, marking the first operational expansion outside the Kingdom and raising the number of stations to twenty. The external expansion reflects a broader ambition: turning the locally built digital capabilities into services sold to partners, becoming an additional source of growth.
What Does This Mean for the Regional Shipping Market?
Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in airports, logistics infrastructure, and capacity within Vision 2030 to become a global logistics hub. Sal’s experience shows that the next competitive advantage will not be in the size of warehouses or the number of aprons alone, but in how smoothly data flows between them. When information moves faster than the shipment, cycle time shrinks, trust grows, and the entire network becomes more resilient to shocks. For those watching the sector in the region, the lesson is clear: investing in the digital layer is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for staying in the game of speed and reliability.