Saudi Arabia's new national airline, Riyadh Air, announced on Wednesday it has ordered 60 narrow-body aircraft from Airbus, as it prepares for takeoff next year.
The carrier, created last year, has reached "an agreement to purchase 60 Airbus A321neo single-aisle aircraft in the latest step towards its maiden flight in 2025", it said in a statement.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sees aviation as a key component of his "Vision 2030" reform agenda to remake the petroleum-centred country, aiming to more than triple annual traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade. He announced the creation of Riyadh Air in March 2023. It is owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.
The deal announced on Wednesday is Riyadh Air's second major purchase after it agreed last year to buy 39 wide-body Boeing Dreamliners, with options for 33 more jets.
The new "multi-billion dollar" deal brings the firm's total aircraft orders to 132 and "positions the airline for efficient flight operations by having an optimal fleet mix to fulfil its network ambitions of 100 destinations by 2030", the statement said.
"We are pleased to embark on another key milestone in Riyadh Air's journey with the carrier's second major fleet order, this time in partnership with Airbus," PIF governor and Riyadh Air chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan said in the statement.
"This deal underlines the airline's ambitious intentions in advance of next year's launch as it builds a comprehensive international network and establishes Riyadh as a major strategic global aviation hub."
- Regional competition -
Saudi officials in November 2022 announced plans for a large new airport in Riyadh.
The existing flag carrier, Saudia, is headquartered in the coastal city of Jeddah.
Some analysts have questioned the feasibility of Riyadh Air's goals, describing the regional market as already saturated.
Yet the Saudi strategy hinges partly on tapping the domestic market in a country with a population of about 35 million, which officials see as a major advantage for national carriers over Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Wednesday's statement did not specify when Riyadh Air would take delivery of the Airbus planes.
