{"id":127370,"date":"2026-06-10T17:51:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=127370"},"modified":"2026-06-10T17:51:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:51:38","slug":"saudi-arabia-launches-new-national-carrier-riyadh-air-despite-middle-east-conflict-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/127370\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia launches new national carrier Riyadh Air despite Middle East conflict, delays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">RIYADH(National Times)- Saudi Arabia launched its second national carrier Riyadh Air after more than a year of delays on Wednesday, defying the economic turmoil triggered by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/live\/iran-israel-war\">Middle East war<\/a>&nbsp;and strong competition from established Gulf airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Riyadh Air\u2019s white and lavender livery took off at 2:30am local time, putting in motion a flagship project in Saudi Arabia\u2019s push to reduce its economic reliance on oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Riyadh Air, the country\u2019s second state-owned airline after Jeddah-based Saudia, is meant to help turn the Saudi capital into a global hub to rival Dubai, the world\u2019s busiest for international passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to bring glamour, we want to bring refinement, we want to bring grace back,\u201d Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas told&nbsp;<em>AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The launch, originally planned for 2025, was set back by delivery delays from Boeing, which has suffered a series of manufacturing and safety problems in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also follows unprecedented attacks from Iran, which has fired thousands of drones and missiles at Gulf targets, including airports, casting the wealthy region into sudden economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, for Douglas, ex-CEO of Abu Dhabi\u2019s Etihad airline, the inaugural flight is \u201cthe culmination of four years\u2019 worth of preparation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think Riyadh, as a result of its geography, during this particular point in time, has been less affected\u201d by the attacks, he said, seated in a Riyadh Air Dreamliner cabin at a pre-launch event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou have the trials and the tribulations, you win some, you lose some, you make progress, you sometimes have setbacks, but you have made it, and this day we\u2019ve made it,\u201d added the CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2006607\/saudi-arabia-launches-new-national-carrier-riyadh-air-despite-middle-east-conflict-delays#saturated-market\"><\/a>Saturated market?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saudi Arabia is building a major&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/v\/\">new airport<\/a>&nbsp;in Riyadh with a planned capacity of 120 million passengers a year by 2030, compared to 53m at the existing King Khalid International Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Riyadh Air is owned by the $900 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), the main vehicle for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman\u2019s ambitious Vision 2030 economic reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement of intent, the airline ordered 132 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and last June signed for 25 Airbus A350-1000s, with an option for 50 more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur ambition is to be able to connect to over 100 international cities over the next five years,\u201d Douglas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a ceremony celebrating the first planes\u2019 delivery, PIF chief and Riyadh Air chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan described \u201ca historic moment for the nation\u201d and said the company would create \u201c200,000 direct and indirect jobs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saudi Arabia is focusing on Vision 2030\u2019s more pragmatic ventures as extravagances like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1762114\">Neom<\/a>, a futuristic city in the desert, and Riyadh\u2019s cuboid skyscraper Mukaab, are scaled back or scrapped to save costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saudi Arabia, which is hosting the 2030 World Expo and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1878118\">2034 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, and welcomes millions of pilgrims to Makkah each year, aims to triple its annual air traffic to 330 million passengers by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some analysts have cast doubt over these ambitions in a regional market that is saturated with competitors such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet Saudi airlines hold a significant advantage over Gulf competitors: a domestic market of approximately 35m people, by far the region\u2019s largest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RIYADH(National Times)- Saudi Arabia launched its second national carrier Riyadh Air after more than a year of delays on Wednesday, defying the economic turmoil triggered by the&nbsp;Middle East war&nbsp;and strong competition from established Gulf airlines. A London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Riyadh Air\u2019s white and lavender livery took off at 2:30am local time, putting in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Saudi Arabia launches new national carrier Riyadh Air despite Middle East conflict, delays - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/127370\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saudi Arabia launches new national carrier Riyadh Air despite Middle East conflict, delays - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RIYADH(National Times)- Saudi Arabia launched its second national carrier Riyadh Air after more than a year of delays on Wednesday, defying the economic turmoil triggered by the&nbsp;Middle East war&nbsp;and strong competition from established Gulf airlines. 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