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Riyadh Air boosts fleet with Airbus A321neo order

Updated Oct 31, 2024, 10:25am EDT
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Image of Riyadh Air livery
Courtesy of Riyadh Air
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The News

Riyadh Air — Saudi Arabia’s premium airline set to launch in the second half of 2025 — signed a multibillion-dollar deal with France-based Airbus for 60 narrowbody jets. The deal was agreed on Wednesday during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.

Chief Financial Officer Adam Boukadida told Semafor that Riyadh Air is on track to begin operations with three planes, gradually expanding to more than 130 by 2030 despite supply chain delays, primarily due to work slow downs affecting US plane maker Boeing. It’s too early to announce the first destinations for the airline, he said, because it depends on airport slot availability, and those will become easier to secure once Riyadh Air receives its air operator’s certificate.

Riyadh Air envisions itself as more than an airline. It sees itself as a “bespoke” e-commerce platform that allows passengers to tailor and modify their bookings in ways other airlines do not, he said. Travelers can choose different cabin classes for multiple passengers under one reservation, add or remove passengers from an existing booking, and rent Lucid electric vehicles upon arrival at their destination.

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Sarah’s view

Riyadh Air will compete with regional heavyweights Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways for long-haul travel, but it stands out because its hub city has twice the population of Dubai and is almost three-times the size of Qatar. The airline aims to meet the demand for more flight options, especially to the capital, while supporting the increased influx of tourists drawn to the kingdom’s expanding sports and culture events.

Many of the attendees at the FII this week traveled to Riyadh via Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai due to limited direct flights from Europe and the US. Some travelers shun the Jeddah-based carrier Saudia, which has faced criticism for its seats and service — even by its own CEO on a recent episode of podcast Socrates.

Launching a global airline from scratch is a mammoth challenge. Even with priority delivery of aircraft from the backlogged Airbus and Boeing, and assuming Saudia’s slots in the capital become available as the national carrier shifts focus to Jeddah’s pilgrimage routes, Riyadh Air will still need to secure slots at busy airports around the world.

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The airline will benefit from the partnerships that come from being a Public Investment Fund-backed company. It has partnered with other PIF firms like fintech noon Payments for online payment services and Almosafer for travel management.

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Riyadh Air’s next big deal will be for wide-body jets. CEO Tony Douglas told Reuters the company is exploring both Airbus A350-1000 or Boeing 777x orders within two months, although he did not reveal the expected size of the order.

The airline, which aims to serve more than 100 international destinations and several key domestic hubs, will complement the kingdom’s existing airlines, including Saudia. “There’s definitely room for at least two international” airline operators in the kingdom, Boukadida said.

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