Saudi Arabia is planning to launch a new national airline ‘very soon,’ establishing a key pillar of the kingdom’s Vision 2030, a plan to attract three times as many foreign tourists by the end of the decade. The carrier, which will be based at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, will play a key role in the Saudis’ plan to usher in the country’s ‘golden era of travel’ and transform it into one of the Middle East’s leading aviation hubs.
Saudi officials announced an aviation strategy in May, aiming for 250 direct destinations, tripling traffic, and the establishment of a new carrier. Mohammed Alkhuraisi, vice president of strategy and business intelligence at Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation, told The National on Wednesday that the carrier’s debut is nearing completion. ‘ I know it’s going to fly very soon,’ he said at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom.
Mr Alkhuraisi declined to say how many jobs the project aims to create, but he did say that Vision 2030 aims to create 1.1 million jobs across multiple industries. According to him, the aviation industry is critical to the plan’s success and will be ‘really crucial’ in meeting the ambitious goal. ‘ Aviation enables multiple sectors: tourism, trade, foreign direct investments, bilateral relationships with various countries,’ he explained.
‘Strong aviation can enable the entire tourism strategy. We want to attract 100 million tourists by 2030, and we need you to be ready.’ The establishment of a new airline to operate alongside the national carrier Saudia — formerly Saudi Arabian Airlines — will play a significant role in the government’s plan to diversify the economy, boost tourism, and reduce reliance on oil.
The plan is centred on sustainability, and increasing the number of women in the workforce is also high on the priority list. The strategy is expected to propel Saudi Arabia to fifth place in global air passenger traffic. According to Mr. Alkuraisi, the kingdom is attempting to capitalise on its strategic location by serving as a hub for connections between Africa, Asia, and Europe. The global aviation industry is dealing with staff shortages as demand for travel surges, and there have been scenes of chaos at airports in the UK and across Europe in recent weeks.
According to Mr. Alkhuraisi, the Saudi aviation sector is making strong gains in terms of passenger numbers as international travel resumes, and has been spared the problems plaguing airports in other regions. Gaca is optimistic that the input to Vision 2030 will go as planned. ‘ Month after month, I believe we have recovered [to] pre-pandemic levels for the month of June, for example,’ he said.
Mr Alkhuraisi announced a reduction in airport landing and take-off fees for airlines using Saudi Arabian airports during a speech in Farnborough, England, on Wednesday. ‘I am delighted to announce today at Farnborough that Saudi Arabia is reducing airport charges for all airlines flying into the kingdom by 10% to 35%,’ he said. The move follows a dispute between airlines and airports.
Airlines’ trade body the International Air Transport Association has accused airports of hiking fees to unreasonable levels as they seek to recoup massive losses incurred during the pandemic at the expense of carriers, which are also trying to recover. Saudi Arabia’s decision to slash airport charges comes amid tough competition from established global hubs in the region, including the UAE and Qatar.
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