Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman formally announced Sunday the creation of a new national airline, Riyadh Air, with industry veteran Tony Douglas as its CEO.
Riyadh Air will reach more than 100 destinations worldwide by 2030, taking advantage of the kingdom’s location between Asia, Africa and Europe, state news agency SPA said.
The new airline is expected to contribute $20 billion to Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP growth and create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.
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The announcement may lead to a tougher battle for passengers, taking on regional giants such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines as the travel industry recovers from the pandemic.
Riyadh Air is wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has more than $600 billion in assets and is the main driver of the kingdom’s efforts to diversify its economy and divest from oil.
In October, Saudi Arabia was in advanced negotiations to order nearly 40 A350 aircraft from Airbus, and Boeing was also pushing for orders, according to industry sources.
The head of state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) told Reuters at the time that it was in talks with Boeing and Airbus about orders for both itself and a planned new carrier.
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