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Saudi Arabia to Launch New Budget Airline from King Fahd International Airport

Prime Highlights

Air Arabia and its partners Nesma Group and KUN Holding are launching a new low-cost carrier out of Dammam.
The airline will have 45 aircraft flying and handling 10 million passengers every year by 2030.

Key Facts

It will be flying out of King Fahd International Airport.
It will be flying 24 domestic and 57 international routes.

Key Background

As part of the revival of Kingdom’s aviation transportation sector, Saudi Arabia General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) granted a fresh operating permit to the Air Arabia, Nesma Group, and KUN Holding consortium. The new airline will be operating from King Fahd International Airport in Dammam as part of Vision 2030 project that seeks to spur connectivity, tourism, and economic diversification.

The growth of the airline is massive, and the airline will have 45 aircraft on its fleet in 2030. The growth to 57 global and 24 regional destinations will see the carrier flying air superiority regionally and internationally. The airline will fly over 10 million passengers every year, with over 2,400 direct employees, which will impact employment at the level in the Eastern Province.

It was announced in the inauguration ceremony of King Fahd Airport master plan that it will comprise the development of SAR 1.6 billion worth of infrastructure. The project will enhance the capacity to carry passengers to more than 19 million a year by 2030 and enhance the capacity to process cargo by 1,000%. Electronic gates with improved facilities will be developed to act as a means of boosting efficiency and ease of use.

This acquisition of Air Arabia is Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to be a regional aviation hub. The consortium was awarded on competitive tender, proof of the high priority that had been accorded by the government to private-public partnership in redefining transport and logistics. Low-fare regional giant Air Arabia and joint investors Nesma and KUN have excellent synergy of domestic technical expertise and experience to leverage on.

Not just low-cost flying expansion, it is expansion of an expansion of a commitment to building world-class infrastructure as Saudi Arabia’s vision for world-leadership in aviation development.