A new airline in the desert

Ready to muscle its way into the big boys club of Emirates, Qatar and Turkish, Riyadh Airline RIA) is the new kid on the black. Will it be able to create a mark? Will it be able to draw enough passengers to the Kingdom? Can it beat the other big hubs? We will know when the airline launches in 2025.

Saudi Arabia has Riyadh Air as the kingdom seeks to develop into a global transport and logistics hub as part of its aviation strategy and push to diversify its economy from oil. As the world moves towards green energy, the country risks losing 30 - 40% of its GDP, and is looking to invest its way out of the resource curse!

Governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)'s Yasir Al Rumayyan will chair the new airline, while former Etihad Airways boss Tony Douglas is chief executive The new carrier will be wholly owned by PIF, which has about $620 billion in assets under management and backs strategic sectors central to the kingdom's economic diversification plans.

Saudi Arabia's second national carrier will connect the capital Riyadh to more than 100 destinations around the world by 2030, leveraging the country's strategic geographic location between Asia, Africa and Europe, the PIF said.

Riyadh Air is expected to contribute 75 billion Saudi riyals ($20 billion) to the country's non-oil gross domestic product growth and to create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs

The country's Saudi Aviation Strategy calls for tripling annual passenger traffic to 330 million by 2030, boosting the number of destinations to 250 from 99 at present and establishing a new flag carrier. This strategy is backed by $100 billion in investments from the government and private sector. Saudi Arabia is currently home to Jeddah-based national carrier Saudia and its low-cost subsidiary flyadeal.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last November announced that a new airport will be opened in the capital Riyadh with six parallel runways designed to accommodate up to 120 million travellers by 2030.