Public Investment Fund on board as new Saudi flag carrier takes flight

Former Etihad Airways Group CEO Tony Douglas has been appointed CEO of new Saudi flag carrier Riyadh Air. An official announcement was made on the formation of the new airline, 12 March in Riyadh. Riyadh Air will be chaired by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of sovereign wealth fund PIF. The announcement by the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, prime minister and chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), was sparse on details of timescales for establishing the new carrier and its route network. It is also so far unclear how the existing flag-carrier, Saudia, will fit into the new Saudi aviation landscape. As Saudi Arabia continues to market itself as a tourism destination quite aggressively and strives to implement the government’s master plan, Vision 2030, designed to diversify the country’s economy away from hydrocarbons, the development of Riyadh’s King Salman International Airport into a super-connector hub moves up another gear. Some sources in the Middle East have speculated that PIF is to invest $30bn in Riyadh Air and that it could serve 100 destinations by 2030. Up to 200,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created in the process. Analysts and the WSJ have also suggested the sovereign wealth fund is close to a $35bn commercial aircraft deal for a ‘large number of jets’. Photo: Saudi Arabia PIF