Saudi Arabia is preparing to launch a new international airline, a competitor of Emirates.
According to Arabian Business, RIA – presumably the name of the company – will become the country’s second national carrier after SAUDIA. It is planned that the fleet should be based in Riyadh.
“At the moment, the final touches are being made to the plans to open a new carrier. I know that it will fly very soon,” said the vice president of strategy and business analytics of the country’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation, Mohammed Alkhuraisi. But, according to him, there are currently no exact launch dates.
With the help of the new airline, Saudi Arabia expects to increase the current transit passenger traffic by 7.5 times and ensure the transportation of 30 million international passengers by 2030.