RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct 31, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Saudi Arabia's new national airline, Riyadh Air, announced on Wednesday it has ordered 60 narrow-body aircraft from Airbus, as it prepares for takeoff next year.

The carrier, created last year, has reached "an agreement to purchase 60 Airbus A321neo single-aisle aircraft in the latest step towards its maiden flight in 2025", it said in a statement.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sees aviation as a key component of his "Vision 2030" reform agenda to remake the petroleum-centred country, aiming to more than triple annual traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade.

He announced the creation of Riyadh Air in March 2023. It is owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.

The deal announced on Wednesday is Riyadh Air's second major purchase after it agreed last year to buy 39 wide-body Boeing Dreamliners, with options for 33 more jets.

The new "multi-billion dollar" deal brings the firm's total aircraft orders to 132 and "positions the airline for efficient flight operations by having an optimal fleet mix to fulfil its network ambitions of 100 destinations by 2030", the statement said.

"We are pleased to embark on another key milestone in Riyadh Air's journey with the carrier's second major fleet order, this time in partnership with Airbus," PIF governor and Riyadh Air chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan said in the statement.

"This deal underlines the airline's ambitious intentions in advance of next year's launch as it builds a comprehensive international network and establishes Riyadh as a major strategic global aviation hub."

- Regional competition -

Saudi officials in November 2022 announced plans for a large new airport in Riyadh.

The existing flag carrier, Saudia, is headquartered in the coastal city of Jeddah.

Some analysts have questioned the feasibility of Riyadh Air's goals, describing the regional market as already saturated.

Yet the Saudi strategy hinges partly on tapping the domestic market in a country with a population of about 35 million, which officials see as a major advantage for national carriers over Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Wednesday's statement did not specify when Riyadh Air would take delivery of the Airbus planes.

Despite ongoing problems at Boeing, which has reported a string of financial losses and has significantly slowed its delivery of new jets while it addresses quality control issues, Riyadh Air is still expected to start flying in the summer of 2025, chief commercial officer Vincent Coste told AFP in May.

Approximately 10 destinations will come online by the end of 2025, Coste said, with more than 100 targeted by the end of the decade.

"We'll definitely be in the air next year," Riyadh Air chief executive Tony Douglas told CNN on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, an annual investor forum sometimes referred to as "Davos in the desert".

"We're a start-up with big ambition, and we're confident that next year will be the special year for Riyadh Air."

Aviation contributed $20 billion to the Saudi economy in 2023, according to a report published in May by the civil aviation authority.

The sector "supports 241,000 jobs, and a further estimated 717,000 jobs in the tourism sector", the report said.