RIYADH — The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) plans to establish a major airline company to compete with the state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines and other major aviation companies in the region. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, in collaboration with investment entities, has made major headway in the formation of the company that targets to tap the vast opportunities in the aviation sector along with the Kingdom's plan to attract as many as 100 million visitors and tourists annually by the year of 2030, according to a report, carried by Maaal online business newspaper. The new airline will operate both international and domestic flights; the newspaper reported quoting sources, who requested anonymity. "The project has come a long way in its studies, but it is not yet in the final shape," they said. Referring to the establishment of another major aviation company by PIF, which is the investment arm of the Saudi government, apart from Saudi Airlines, the national carrier, the sources said that the establishment of a new airline is not problematic. Rather, it will increase the chances of acquiring a major chunk in the regional aviation market, which is expected to witness a big boom in the coming period, especially as the Kingdom moves to increase the number of visitors and tourists to Saudi Arabia, whose numbers are estimated to reach 100 million a year by 2030. The Saudi wealth fund seeks to tap the huge potential of the travel industry with the vast opportunities expected to be laid open with the world's success of stemming the spread of coronavirus pandemic along with a huge increase in the number of those who receive vaccine shots in the near future. With this, PIF aims to increase better alternatives for travelers, which will benefit the users of airlines, both in terms of service and competition among companies, in addition to offering attractive packages and prices, the sources indicated. The idea of the new airline company is based on exploring the prospect of increasing the aviation sector's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) by increasing competition, making available of more flight seat capacity, by launching companies with huge competitive capabilities, the sources said. The sources cited the telecommunication sector as the best successful model in this regard. "The opening of telecommunications sector to foreign telecom companies has been instrumental in creating healthy competition and thus raising the standard of services to customers apart from attracting more foreign investments to this sector," the sources added.
