The Saudia Group, represented by Saudia, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, and flyadeal, the group’s low-cost carrier, has signed an order with Airbus for an additional 105 A320neo family aircraft.
The order comprises 12 A320neo and 93 A321neo aircraft. This increases Saudia Group’s Airbus aircraft order backlog to 144 A320neo family aircraft.
These aircraft will be distributed between Saudia and flyadeal. Saudia will acquire 54 A321neo aircraft, while flyadeal will receive 12 A320neo and 39 A321neo aircraft.
Fueling travel growth
The new aircraft directly support Saudia Group’s objectives to connect the world with the Kingdom, aligning with several key pillars of Saudi Vision 2030. These include the transportation and logistics objective to increase guests’ capacity to 330 million and expand destinations to 250 by 2030, and the tourism objective to attract 150 million visits by 2030. This is in addition to the Hajj and Umrah objective to contribute to the increase of Umrah pilgrim capacity to 30 million by 2030.
The agreement was announced at the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh in the presence of Saleh bin Nasser AIJasser, Minister of Transport and Logistic Services of Saudi Arabia, Engr Ibrahim Al-Omar, Director General of Saudia Group, and Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, executive vice-president sales of the commercial aircraft business.
“Saudia has ambitious operational objectives to meet growing demand. We are increasing flights and seat capacity across our existing 100+ destinations on four continents, with plans for further expansion. The progress of Saudi Vision 2030 is attracting more visits, tourists, entrepreneurs, and pilgrims each year. This motivated our decision to secure this significant deal, which will create jobs, increase local content, and contribute to the national economy,” said Al-Omar.
“The new additions of the A320neo family aircraft will play a vital role in contributing to Saudi Arabia’ ambitious Vision 2030 plan,” said de Saint-Exupéry. “It will enable Saudia Group’s strategy to advance the Kingdom’s aviation capabilities while enabling both airlines to benefit from the A320neo family’s exceptional efficiency, superior economics, highest level of passenger comfort as well as lower fuel-burn and emissions.”
Lower emissions
The A320 family has won over 18,000 orders from over 300 customers across markets. The A321neo is the largest member of the Airbus A320neo family. The A321neo brings a 50 percent noise reduction and at least 20 percent fuel savings and CO2 reduction compared to previous generation single-aisle aircraft. Airbus aims for all its aircraft to be capable of operating with up to 100% SAF by 2030.
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