Riyadh Air announces purchase of 60 Airbus A321neo jets

Saudi Arabia’s new airline, Riyadh Air, announced on Wednesday the purchase of 60 narrow-body Airbus A321neo aircraft as it gears up to begin its first operations in 2025.

The carrier, established last year, confirmed that it had finalized “an agreement to purchase 60 Airbus A321neo single-aisle jets,” according to a company statement.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the driving force behind Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 reform plan, sees aviation as a vital component of his efforts to diversify the economy of the world's largest oil exporter. Riyadh Air was officially launched by the Crown Prince in March 2023 as part of these sweeping economic reforms.

Owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Riyadh Air had already signed an agreement last year to acquire 39 Boeing Dreamliners, with options for an additional 33 aircraft. This new Airbus deal, valued at “several billion dollars,” brings Riyadh Air’s total fleet orders to 132 aircraft, providing it with “an optimal fleet to fulfill its ambitions of a 100-destination network by 2030,” the statement added.

Saudi Arabia aims to triple its air traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade. In 2022, the Kingdom launched plans for a major new airport in the capital, Riyadh, to support this rapid expansion in the aviation sector.

Saudi Arabia’s existing national carrier, Saudia, is based in the coastal city of Jeddah. Although analysts have voiced doubts about Riyadh Air’s ambitions, pointing to a “saturated” regional market, Saudi carriers hold a distinct advantage over Gulf competitors like Emirates and Qatar Airways due to the large domestic market of around 35 million residents.

The delivery schedule for the new aircraft has not yet been disclosed.