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New carrier would push SA into the 5th rank globally in terms of air transit traffic
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The move is part of plan to diversify kingdom’s economy away from oil
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced plans on Tuesday to launch a second national airline as part of a broader strategy to turn the kingdom into a global logistics hub as it seeks to diversify from oil, Reuters reported.
The move is also part of the plan to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.
The creation of another flag carrier would catapult Saudi Arabia into the 5th rank globally in terms of air transit traffic, official state media quoted by Reuters said.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing an ambitious Vision 2030 whereby the kingdom’s non-oil revenues are sought to be raised to about 45 billion riyals ($12.00 billion) by 2030.
This includes investment in the developments of ports, rail and road networks geared to turn the kingdom into a global logistics hub. This would increase the transport and logistics sector’s contribution to gross domestic product to 10% from 6%, state news agency SPA said.
“The comprehensive strategy aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global logistics hub connecting the three continents,” Prince Mohammed was quoted as saying in the SPA report.
“This will help other sectors like tourism, haj and umrah to achieve their national targets.”
The addition of another airline would increase the number of international destinations from Saudi Arabia to more than 250 and double air cargo capacity to more than 4.5 million tonnes, the SPA report said.
