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Saudi Arabia achieves record passenger numbers and enhances its fleet with significant Airbus and Boeing orders
Saudi Arabia’s national flag carrier, transported more than nine million passengers in the third quarter of 2024, up by 10 percent from last year's corresponding period. The airline operated more than 49,500 flights and had an on-time performance of 87.8 percent.
Out of the passengers, five million traveled by 21,900 plus international flights and four million availed of some 27,500 regional journeys. Ibrahim Al-Omar, director general of Saudia Group, stated, "Our new strategy gives care and attention to every component that concerns air travel—to both security and safety with its potential for increasing its sitting capacity to meet with that of the growing trend.”
Saudia currently operates 89 Airbus and 54 Boeing aircraft. In May, the airline signed a deal for 105 Airbus A320-family narrowbody jets in the biggest aviation deal ever in Saudi Arabia. Of these, 54 A321neos will be delivered to Saudia and 51 more to its low-cost carrier, Flyadeal.
Aside from the Airbus order, Saudia ordered 39 widebody Boeing 787s in 2023 under an option for 10 additional orders. Those orders can also provide a significant increase on the number of flight services, as well as create higher seating capacity on over 100 destinations that it currently offers.
Saudia also embraced innovative technologies in its latest order since the airline ordered at least 50 pilotless electric flying vehicles from Germany-based company Lilium. This electric flying vehicle is seen to be delivered starting this year 2026.
The Jeddah-Riyadh route is one of the six most travelled domestic airline routes in the world, with 731,786 available seats for October, according to an aviation consultancy OAG. Saudi Arabia is the second-busiest aviation market in the Middle East after the UAE, with nearly six million seats available in October, up 10 percent from the previous year.
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