Saudi Arabia to launch new national carrier 'RIA', will rival UAE's Emirates Airline

Multiple reports suggest that Saudi Arabia is planning on creating a new international airline that can also be the flag carrier of the nation by the name "RIA" to boost tourism in the region.

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Saudi Arabia is a country well known for its oil-sourced wealth. However, the middle-easter country is now taking steps forward to decrease its dependency on oil wealth and hence is focusing on developing other sources of income to have a comparatively independent economy. Besides other measures, the nation is also planning on launching a new national airline based out of the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Based on reports from Simple Flying, the new national carrier of the company can be named "RIA".

It is to be noted that Saudi Arabia already has a flag carrier in the form of Saudia, based out of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. However, based on reports, the country hinted at starting a new airline in June 2022 to boost tourism in the region. Now, the reports of the name of the new airline have further reinforced the expectations of the launch of a new airline.

The name "RIA" has been offered as a favoured option for the new airline, according to a source close to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (which is funding the carrier), according to an exclusive report on Thursday, September 1 from media outlet Arabian Business. But in the end, it's likely that Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman will make the final call.

The current and only national carrier of Saudi Arabia, Saudia, flies to 90 destinations. But only 27 of them are homegrown. Emirates, in contrast, currently travels to 158 locations across 85 nations.

According to reports by Simple Flying, Saudi Arabia will need to invest $30 billion and create a network of over 150 routes around Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia if it wants to compete with companies like the multinational located in Dubai.