In light of Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 programme, targeting to transform the kingdom into a global aviation and logistics powerhouse by 2030, Saudi aims to multiply its international airline transit traffic by tenfold and triple its annual passenger traffic to reach 330 million passengers per annum by 2030.
Driving economic growth
The programme seeks to attract $133.32 billion in investment to steer the kingdom’s economy away from oil reliance toward a diverse economic portfolio.
On his part, the Head of Strategy at Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation, Mohammed Alkhuraisi told Reuters that the kingdom’s main aim is to increase the number of arrivals, stressing that the country is “not after the transit market.”
The realisation of the kingdom’s aspirations to multiply transit traffic by tenfold would require a corresponding growth in international transit traffic to 30 million passengers by 2030, compared to 3 million in 2019.
Fierce competition
Key players across the region’s aviation landscape, including Emirates Airline and the Qatari flag carrier, Qatar Airways rely on transit traffic as their main business model, signalling a ferocious competition in the upcoming decade over the growing market.
In 2019, Emirates flew over 56 million passengers, while Qatar Airways carried 32 million passengers.
Enhancing capabilities
The kingdom aims to grow its annual cargo volumes to 4.5 million tonnes by 2030 compared to 900,000 tonnes in 2019.
Moreover, the kingdom has launched a wide-ranging strategy to overhaul its 35 airports’ infrastructure and inaugurate a new national carrier to replace SAUDIA and support the kingdom in realising its Vision 2030 objectives.
Though information concerning the new airline remains particularly scarce, analysts expect the new carrier to compete with the giants currently dominating the region’s commercial aviation market.
