Known more for its oil wealth, Saudi Arabia is now taking steps forward to decrease its dependency on oil wealth and hence is focusing on developing other sources of income to have a comparatively independent economy.
With these concerns in mind, Saudi Arabia is planning to launch a new national airline based out of the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Based on reports from Simple Flying, the new national carrier of the company can be named “RIA”.
Saudi Arabia already has a flag carrier in the form of Saudia, based out of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. However new reports indicate the country is aiming at starting a new airline in June 2022 to boost tourism in the region. The purported name of the new airline has further increased the expectations of the launch of a new airline.
The name “RIA” has been offered as a favoured option for the new airline, according to a source close to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (which is funding the carrier), according to an exclusive report on Thursday, September 1 from media outlet Arabian Business. But in the end, it’s likely that Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman will take the final call.
Saudia, the current national carrier flies to 90 destinations. Emirates, in comparison, currently files to 158 locations across 85 nations.
According to reports by Simple Flying, Saudi Arabia will need to invest $30 billion and create a network of over 150 routes around Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia if it wants to compete with companies like Dubai’s Emirates.
