Saudi Arabia and the growth cycle of its tourism and air traffic sector
Saudi Arabia's air transport sector is in the midst of an enviable upward cycle, the goal of which is to make the Kingdom a leading player in global aviation.
Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman is committed to promoting quality tourism, which directly benefits the Saudi aviation ecosystem. Both lines of action are contemplated in Vision 2030, a project that has been underway since 2016 to diversify a national economy that until now has depended in practice entirely on oil.
According to a report by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the body responsible for Saudi air traffic chaired by Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, the country experienced ‘unprecedented growth’ in the number of flights - 815,000 - and passengers transported - 112 million - in 2023, with an increase of 16% and 26%, respectively, compared to 2022.
The figures denote the progressive increase in flights, routes and passengers over the Kingdom. GACA's Executive Vice President for Strategy, Mohamed Alkhuraisi, has made public that the forecast for 2030 is that ‘the number of passengers will triple to 330 million from 250 different destinations’.
To cater for such a volume of travellers and the resulting volume of aircraft, the Riyadh government is working to improve the national aviation ecosystem. On the one hand, increasing the aircraft fleets of its airlines. On the other hand, expanding and rehabilitating the infrastructure of its three main international airports, which are essential to realise the aspiration of making Saudi Arabia a global hub for passenger and cargo interconnection between Europe, Africa and Central Asia.
Improving its three main airports
The first in terms of number of flights is King Abdulaziz International Airport, which in 2023 averaged ‘30 flights per hour’, according to GACA. Located near the city of Jeddah, it is one of the busiest in the Middle East, being the main gateway for pilgrims arriving from around the world to attend religious celebrations in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
King Abdulaziz Airport is already undergoing a major expansion and rehabilitation programme. Both improvements aim to ‘increase the terminal's annual passenger capacity to 80 million passengers, far exceeding the current 30 million a year,’ says Fethi Chebil, an expert with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The second international airport in terms of traffic volume is Riyadh, the nation's capital. Named King Khalid, ‘its average number of flights in 2023 was 27 per hour’, according to the GACA. The third largest is King Fahd airport near the city of Dammam, a coastal town on the Persian Gulf some 420 kilometres northeast of Riyadh.
It handles an average of 11 flights per hour, confirms the GACA, as it is a major logistics hub close to the petrochemical cities of Jubail and Khobar. With an area of approximately 780 square kilometres, it is one of the largest airports in the world. Opened in November 1999, it was a major US Air Force base during the two Gulf Wars of the 1990s.
Saudi Arabia's main expectations for airport growth are for a second international airport in Riyadh, which is still under construction. It is the so-called King Salman airport, intended to replace King Khalid airport and become the main airport infrastructure gateway to the country.
Atletico Madrid's stadium: Riyadh Air Metropolitano
A key part of the Kingdom's new air transport strategy, the GACA aims to make King Salman ‘the world's largest airport’. Scheduled to open at the end of this decade, it aims to serve 120 million passengers a year by the 2030s and to reach 185 million by 2050,’ says the GACA.
The other essential component for the growth of the Saudi industrial fabric linked to air transport is the national airlines, which are fundamental to improving the Kingdom's connectivity. The three main ones are Saudian Airlines, better known as Saudia; Flynas, a low-cost carrier with an ambitious plan to expand its routes; and Riyadh Air, a premium airline that has found a gap in the market between the services offered by Saudia and Flynas.
Riyadh Air was founded in March 2023 and is owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF. It is not yet operating its aircraft, but will do so in the summer of 2025 with its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner of an initial fleet of 39 aircraft. But it is already an official sponsor of Atlético de Madrid football club and its stadium is now called ‘Riyadh Air Metropolitano’, the result of an agreement reached on 9 October between Miguel Ángel Gil and Tony Douglas, executive heads of Atlético and Riyadh respectively.
The veteran Saudia was founded in 1945, is the first national flag carrier and one of the largest airlines in the Middle East. Led by Ibrahim Al-Omar, it flies to 90 destinations worldwide and carried 34 million passengers in 2023. It has a modern fleet of 143 fixed-wing aircraft, 89 from European manufacturer Airbus and 42 from American Boeing, which it aims to expand to around 200 by 2025.
To meet the growing demand for low-cost air travel, Saudi entrepreneur Bandar Almohanna established Flynas in 2007, which by 2023 carried more than 8.6 million passengers on 34 domestic and international routes. Its current fleet consists of 61 aircraft, which it aims to increase to 160 by 2030, the vast majority of which are Airbus. In short, the growth of tourism and air traffic go hand in hand, and the Riyadh authorities have set to work on both markets.