Saudi Arabia invites bids for charter airline

Saudi Arabia’s aviation regulator is inviting bids to set up a national charter airline.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation opened the bid process on April 13 and has set a submission deadline of May 21, it said in a statement.

All the bids will be opened on May 22.

In February the regulator announced plans to allow foreign charter airlines to operate domestic flights in the country. The reforms are scheduled to take effect in May.

Saudi Arabia is investing or seeking investment of around $100 billion in aviation. It aims to treble passenger traffic by 2030, to serve 330 million passengers and to connect to more than 250 international destinations.

This month the regulator granted permission to begin flying to Riyadh Air, a startup that intends to operate more than 200 planes to 100-plus destinations.

Budget carriers Flynas and Flyadeal already operate in Saudi Arabia while low-cost Wizzair of Hungary also has a foothold. The regulator has also licensed Neom Airlines, which is intended solely to serve the Neom giga-project.

Saudia, the 80-year-old flag carrier, has 118 aircraft on order, most of which are scheduled to arrive over the next year.

Spending by visitors hit a record high last year, bringing the kingdom closer to its Vision 2030 tourism targets.

In 2024, 30 million people visited Saudi Arabia from abroad. However, this is still less than half the 70 million targeted for 2030.