Saudi Arabia Launches 2nd National Airline

There is a new airline in the Gulf region and it is positioning itself to compete with regional airlines such as Qatar Airways and Emirates, as well as go up against a fellow Saudi national airline. Saudi Arabia announced the creation of Riyadh Air, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The airline, part of the Saudi Vision 2023 plan, is wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund; it  plans to have flights to more than 100 world destinations by 2030, according to the report. It will become Saudi Arabia’s second national airline, alongside state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia).

Reuters reported on Monday, citing an unnamed source, that Boeing Co. is expected to sell nearly 80 787 Dreamliner airplanes to the two airlines at a cost to the airlines of about $37 billion. The new airline is expected to add $20 billion to Saudi Arabia’s non-oil gross domestic product growth and create more than 200,000 jobs both directly and indirectly, SPA reported.