Tag Archives for saudi arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s mirrored megacity was supposed to help sell the kingdom as the next global tourism powerhouse. But with NEOM’s The Line now pushed beyond 2030 and other resort investments slowing, the travel demand behind Riyadh Air has gotten more challenging, as the country tries to figure out if it’s still trying to out-Dubai Dubai.
Riyadh Air is being pitched as Saudi Arabia’s new premium global airline, but it can’t serve alcohol because Saudi law still prohibits it. What most people miss is why that rule exists: it wasn’t imposed for religious reasons so much as triggered by a royal family scandal after a drunk prince shot and killed a British diplomat .
In an awkward CNN interview, Delta’s Ed Bastian struggled to justify partnering with a state-funded Saudi airline after years attacking Gulf subsidies — a verbal pretzel that shows how far Delta’s principles have bent.
In 2011 Delta was accused of antisemitism for its partnership with Saudia. Delta argued at the time that it wasn’t really partnering with Saudia – and that it would not do so.
Saudi Arabia has a national airline, Saudia. It’s government-owned. But the government doesn’t like it, or something? Because they’re starting a new government airline, Riyadh Air, and they’re sharing details publicly.
Riyadh Air plans to fly to 100 destinations b 2030, and are about to place a major order, possibly for 100 Boeing widebody aircraft. The former CEO of Etihad, Tony Douglas, will run the airline. His experience is in dismantling state carrier excess, not lighting money on fire for its own sake.
Saudi Arabia is starting a new mega-airline meant to counter Emirates and Qatar. They already have Saudia, based in Jeddah, and they aren’t expanding it. Instead they’re starting from scratch with a $30 billion warchest to launch “RIA” based in Riyadh. They’re hiring away the CEO of Etihad, and they’re about to place a major order for new planes.
Saudi Arabia is starting a new, second national airline with plans to compete – and beat – Emirates. They are going to invest $30 billion in the effort.
It’s likely to be called RIA and will be based out of Riyadh. And their goal is… transit passengers.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
