New Saudi airline Riyadh Air is touting its new offering at an industry event in Asia, with the CEO and COO giving public appearances and with it a glimpse into the plans and aspirations of the startup airline.
Tony Douglas, the CEO behind Saudi Arabia’s soon-to-be second flag carrier, noted in a media appearance that he couldn’t get a direct flight to Singapore from his home base of Riyadh, using the example to highlight the airline’s planned reach to new cities and destinations.
Douglas, who heads Riyadh Air, had to instead fly to Dubai, then transfer to UAE-based airline Emirates to get to Southeast Asia. Other staff members had to fly Qatar Airways via Doha, he said.
Douglas also pointed out that a substantial amount of international traffic from India and Saudi Arabia flows through big hubs overseas.
“How do you get to [Saudi Arabia]?” asks Douglas. “And the answer is at the moment, regrettably, it’s not as easy as it should be. So the establishment of the new national carrier is the solution for that.”
In a subsequent panel discussion, Douglas observed that there is significant demand for travel between China and Saudi Arabia, but that this also goes through Persian Gulf hubs. He describes China’s as “very much at the at the top of the list of priorities.”
Douglas recounts a trip he and colleagues took to four major Chinese cities in 2023. Of the four cities, not one had a direct connection to Saudi Arabia.
