Skift Take
Riyadh Air doesn't see itself becoming a "super-connecter" like Dubai's Emirates airline. It's banking on immense demand for travel out of Saudi Arabia.
The chief operating officer of Saudi Arabia's new airline, Riyadh Air, doesn't expect the carrier will become a "super-connecter" but will focus instead on "point-to-point" travel. And COO Peter Bellew told Skift at the Dubai Airshow Tuesday that Ryadh Air will meet different needs than nearby Emirates.
"Emirates is a great airline, but a lot of Riyadh Air’s traffic will be point-to-point. A lot of people are going to Riyadh. We just want to make it really easy for travelers to get point-to-point. I don’t see us being some super-connector, I think it will be the reverse," he said.
Launching in the middle of 2025, Riyadh Air hopes to fly to more than 100 destinations by the end of the decade. The airline expects to cover all major cities, including those in the Americas, and adding $20 billio