Saudi Arabia’s upcoming second national airline, Riyadh Air, is expected to start operations in India in 2026. According to Tony Douglas, chief executive officer (CEO) of Riyadh Air, the airline is open to partnering with Indian airlines like Air India and IndiGo and Indian information technology (IT) companies for its digital infrastructure. Riyadh Air plans to start recruitment drives for cabin crew in India this year. Riyadh Air has placed an order for over 130 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus. The airline will have a fleet which will include a mix of Boeing 787-9 aircraft and Airbus A321NEO. The airline is currently in discussions with both OEMs for a widebody aircraft, either an Airbus A350-1000 or Boeing 777-9X.
Edited excerpts:
What are Riyadh Air’s plans for India?
We’re super excited to connect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with all the key geographies around the world. Looking at the strong economic and political ties between both governments, India is a very important market. There has been a 50% jump in leisure tourism to Saudi Arabia from India between 2023-2024, and this gives a sense of the demand. Realistically, we will be starting operating in India in 2026 as we aim to launch the airline in the coming few months in the current calendar year. Overall by 2030, we aim to fly to 100 destinations across the globe. But everything depends on deliveries by Boeing and Airbus. We’ll be receiving new aircraft from the end of this year, and we just can’t wait to serve the Indian public.
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You’re planning to start flights to India, a market dominated by other Middle Eastern carriers and Indian airlines like IndiGo and Air India that have global ambitions. How do you plan to compete?
It might sound rather strange, but we’re actually not here to compete with anybody, we’re not here to steal the market from anybody else. What we’re actually here to do is give better service to people who want to come to Riyadh. At the end of the day, it’s about giving customers choices. Riyadh Air has been the biggest startup in the Kingdom in the past 40 years, and our ambition is to be a digitally led airline.
India is a price-sensitive market, so do you plan to launch operations with aggressive fares?
So far, it’s too early for me to talk about pricing, and we do not have an active release ticketing window at this point. But it is the market that determines pricing, it is the customers that determine, and that is what represents value. What we want to make sure of is to have an incredible product, but importantly, it’ll be digitally enabled. So it will be easier for the people who want to interact with an airline in a way that they’re familiar with interacting every day when they’re on the ground through their phones.
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How do you view the competition from IndiGo and Air India? Do you plan to partner with Indian carriers?
We have high regard for both Air India and IndiGo. It’s fascinating to see what’s been going on in recent years in the Indian market. If there is an equitable partnership with either one of those two airlines and if it makes sense to them, we will have a partnership. And if it doesn’t make sense to them to have a partnership that gives them better connectivity into Riyadh, then that’s a different thing. A great relationship is like a two-way street, it’s about a win-win situation for both parties.
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As per the air bilateral agreement between India and Saudi Arabia, there are 50,000 weekly seats per side. Would you request the government to increase the weekly seat quota?
Are we happy with the seat cap at 50,000 per week? No, we are not. We would always want more, that goes without saying. But the most important point is that the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) isn’t currently using the 50,000 seats fully. We’re not even close to the limit, so certainly, for the foreseeable future, that is not a constraint.
What are your plans for hiring Indian crew and pilots?
Since we have started hiring, Indians have shown a huge interest. But to the organization that we represent, it’s a meritocracy. This is based on capability, and obviously, that will drive our selection criteria. Currently, out of our total workforce, 16% are Indian nationals. I am not surprised to see the level of education, capability and experience of Indians. In the digital space, we have seen many great employees from this incredible country, and I can’t see that changing. We will be doing a recruitment roadshow for cabin crew members this year in India.
How have supply chain challenges and Boeing and Airbus’s slowdown in deliveries affected the airline’s launch plans?
We have revised our launch plans four times over the last two years, and we will be in the skies this year. Like other airlines globally, we are also affected by supply chain challenges being faced by Airbus and Boeing. We are working closely with both manufacturers, and we have great confidence in them. Our first aircraft deliveries are running down the production line now, we can go and touch and feel them, and that’s a great feeling as a startup airline.
