Saudi Arabia’s new national airline, Riyadh Air, announced Wednesday that it has ordered 60 narrow-body aircraft from Airbus as it prepares for takeoff next year.

In the statement, it was stated that the carrier, which was created last year, reached “an agreement to purchase 60 Airbus A321neo single-aisle aircraft, in the final step towards its first flight in 2025.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sees aviation as a key component of his “Vision 2030” reform agenda to reshape the oil-centric country, aiming to more than triple annual traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade.

In March 2023, it announced the establishment of Riyadh Air. The company is owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.

The deal announced Wednesday is Riyadh Air’s second major acquisition, following last year’s agreement to buy 39 wide-body Boeing Dreamliners with options for 33 more jets.

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The statement said that the new “billion-dollar” agreement will increase the company’s total aircraft orders to 132 and “position the airline for efficient flight operations by having the optimum fleet mix to meet network targets for 100 destinations by 2030.”

“We are pleased to step into another important milestone in Riyadh Air’s journey with Riyadh Air’s second major fleet order, this time in partnership with Airbus,” PIF governor and Riyadh Air chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan said in a statement. he said.

“This agreement underlines the airline’s ambitious intentions ahead of next year’s launch as it builds a comprehensive international network and establishes Riyadh as a key strategic global aviation hub.”

Regional competition

Saudi officials announced plans for a major new airport in Riyadh in November 2022.

Current flag carrier Saudia is headquartered in the coastal city of Jeddah.

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Some analysts questioned the feasibility of Riyadh Air’s ambitions, noting that the regional market was already saturated.

But the Saudis’ strategy is partly based on tapping into the domestic market in a country with a population of about 35 million; officials see this as a major advantage for the national carriers over Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.

In Wednesday’s statement, it was not stated when Riyadh Air would receive the Airbus aircraft.

Riyadh Air is still expected to start flying in the summer of 2025, chief commercial officer Vincent Coste said, despite ongoing problems at Boeing, which has reported a series of financial losses and significantly slowed deliveries of new jets while it resolves quality control issues. AFP in May.

About 10 destinations will come online by the end of 2025, with more than 100 targeted by the end of the decade, Coste said.

“We’ll definitely be on the air next year,” Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas told CNN on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, an annual investor forum sometimes referred to as “Davos in the Desert.”

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“We are a start-up with big ambitions and we are confident that next year will be a special year for Riyadh Air.”

According to a report published by the civil aviation authority in May, aviation contributed $20 billion to the Saudi economy in 2023.

Industry “supports 241,000” worksThe report stated that an estimated 717,000 jobs will be provided in the tourism sector.

Source: AFP