The Fort Worth Press - Riyadh Air orders 60 Airbus planes

USD -
AED 3.67299
AFN 66.745897
ALL 90.239571
AMD 385.993732
ANG 1.797541
AOA 911.506258
ARS 990.250002
AUD 1.51525
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70424
BAM 1.79488
BBD 2.013848
BDT 119.184513
BGN 1.79536
BHD 0.376857
BIF 2897.889699
BMD 1
BND 1.32051
BOB 6.916868
BRL 5.700601
BSD 0.99738
BTN 83.885266
BWP 13.333578
BYN 3.264061
BYR 19600
BZD 2.010453
CAD 1.390065
CDF 2887.504121
CHF 0.86254
CLF 0.034707
CLP 957.710113
CNY 7.092703
CNH 7.119295
COP 4411
CRC 511.446283
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 101.192579
CZK 23.1751
DJF 177.606674
DKK 6.83709
DOP 60.018997
DZD 133.081991
EGP 49.086009
ERN 15
ETB 119.782959
EUR 0.916698
FJD 2.245205
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.770703
GEL 2.735008
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.257439
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.495865
GNF 8601.805159
GTQ 7.706109
GYD 208.570603
HKD 7.77265
HNL 25.141903
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.252552
HUF 373.959839
IDR 15761.5
ILS 3.74878
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.109096
IQD 1306.560333
IRR 42092.499085
ISK 136.494526
JEP 0.765169
JMD 158.095911
JOD 0.709198
JPY 151.643017
KES 128.660031
KGS 85.795316
KHR 4053.576591
KMF 453.849431
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1373.979963
KWD 0.30634
KYD 0.831181
KZT 487.769065
LAK 21890.414856
LBP 89315.333752
LKR 292.184223
LRD 191.50098
LSL 17.554272
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.806108
MAD 9.802002
MDL 17.853357
MGA 4597.785538
MKD 56.447137
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 7.989593
MRU 39.597854
MUR 45.830161
MVR 15.410012
MWK 1729.446476
MXN 20.05456
MYR 4.372503
MZN 63.909774
NAD 17.554272
NGN 1641.109694
NIO 36.699689
NOK 10.94673
NPR 134.216793
NZD 1.669355
OMR 0.385023
PAB 0.997472
PEN 3.764586
PGK 3.997596
PHP 58.456497
PKR 276.972436
PLN 3.9804
PYG 7879.558209
QAR 3.635921
RON 4.560501
RSD 107.297999
RUB 98.759981
RWF 1363.734393
SAR 3.756049
SBD 8.319934
SCR 14.543638
SDG 601.437077
SEK 10.666905
SGD 1.316105
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.749749
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 569.996926
SRD 34.614998
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.726615
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.549591
THB 33.686506
TJS 10.602163
TMT 3.5
TND 3.088409
TOP 2.342099
TRY 34.344525
TTD 6.760856
TWD 31.8725
TZS 2691.480973
UAH 41.222038
UGX 3651.614502
UYU 41.306652
UZS 12761.837462
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 43.434016
VND 25320
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 601.98595
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.749687
XOF 601.98595
XPF 109.447486
YER 250.349946
ZAR 17.52655
ZMK 9001.202057
ZMW 26.75434
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    61

    0%

  • RELX

    0.0500

    47.13

    +0.11%

  • NGG

    0.7600

    65.02

    +1.17%

  • BTI

    0.2950

    35.365

    +0.83%

  • GSK

    0.1600

    37.04

    +0.43%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    12.11

    -0.25%

  • BCC

    1.1800

    134.21

    +0.88%

  • RYCEF

    0.0000

    7.08

    0%

  • AZN

    0.4610

    71.881

    +0.64%

  • BP

    0.5100

    29.74

    +1.71%

  • BCE

    -2.5720

    29.528

    -8.71%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.05

    -0.23%

  • CMSD

    0.1500

    24.81

    +0.6%

  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    24.53

    -0.08%

  • RIO

    0.1600

    65.49

    +0.24%

  • VOD

    0.0400

    9.39

    +0.43%

Riyadh Air orders 60 Airbus planes
Riyadh Air orders 60 Airbus planes / Photo: © AFP

Riyadh Air orders 60 Airbus planes

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.

Text size:

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.

Despite ongoing problems at Boeing, which has reported a string of financial losses and has significantly slowed its delivery of new jets while it addresses quality control issues, Riyadh Air is still expected to start flying in the summer of 2025, chief commercial officer Vincent Coste told AFP in May.

Approximately 10 destinations will come online by the end of 2025, Coste said, with more than 100 targeted by the end of the decade.

"We'll definitely be in the air next year," Riyadh Air chief executive Tony Douglas told CNN on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, an annual investor forum sometimes referred to as "Davos in the desert".

"We're a start-up with big ambition, and we're confident that next year will be the special year for Riyadh Air."

Aviation contributed $20 billion to the Saudi economy in 2023, according to a report published in May by the civil aviation authority.

The sector "supports 241,000 jobs, and a further estimated 717,000 jobs in the tourism sector", the report said.

T.Gilbert--TFWP