Budget travelers looking to visit the wonders of the Middle East will soon have a brand new option for affordable flights in the region.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation announced on Sunday that the kingdom will launch a new national low-cost airline by 2030.
The still-unnamed carrier will be backed by a consortium of three companies, including UAE-based Air Arabia, Kun Investment Holding, and Nesma Holding, according to Gulf News.
The new airline will operate a fleet of 45 planes based at King Fahd International Airport (DMM) in Dammam. It plans to fly to 24 domestic destinations and 57 international cities, with a goal of serving 10 million passengers a year.
Launching the new budget carrier is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a sweeping initiative to diversify the nation’s economy and enhance tourism by the end of the decade.
Under the initiative, Saudi Arabia is adding 320,000 new hotel rooms, creating new tourism hotspots like along the Red Sea, and building futuristic cities from scratch. In 2024, nearly 30 million tourists visited Saudi Arabia, according to statistics from the nation’s ministry of tourism.
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