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Saudi Arabia Launches Aviation Strategy Linking 250 Int’l Destination

Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser launching the national aviation strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser launching the national aviation strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Launches Aviation Strategy Linking 250 Int’l Destination

Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser launching the national aviation strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser launching the national aviation strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia announced its new aviation strategy targeting 250 direct destinations to and from the Kingdom's airports, inaugurated a new air carrier, and tripled air traffic.

Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser launched the aviation strategy at the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh, aiming for Saudi Arabia to become the Middle East's hub for the sector in 2030.

The minister addressed the Kingdom's "great aviation reform," saying that it aims to host 300 million passengers and five million tons of freight reaching 250 destinations by 2030.

He added that Saudi Arabia aims to obtain an investment of $100 billion in the aviation sector by the end of this decade.
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He said that Saudi Arabia will also launch an additional national carrier to be among the world's best airlines, and we will upgrade its facilities, infrastructure, and airports led by its hubs, namely Riyadh and Jeddah.

The minister noted many opportunities for the private sector, pointing out that the ministry has changed more than 25 airports into holding companies to be ready for privatization.

President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Salvatore Sciacchitano said that the sector must learn from the pandemic and the challenges of climate change in order to move forward.

Sciacchitano said that digitized travel documents would transform the passenger experience and make global aviation operation seamless, adding that climate change needs to be addressed in the aviation industry urgently.

He noted that developing the international civil aviation system is key to global cooperation and understanding.

Sciacchitano congratulated Saudi Arabia for its commitment to greener skies and a sustainable future, adding that the Kingdom's "exemplary work to address climate change and promote sustainability under the Saudi Green Initiative. The ambitious environmental targets under this initiative are a testimony to Saudi Arabia's strong commitment to this global issue."

During the Conference, Saudi carrier flynas secured a $225 million Murabaha corporate financing facility out of a total funding package of $599.86 million to boost further growth.

The financing was arranged by Credit Suisse and syndicated to several Saudi banks with leading participation from Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank, al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, and Bank Aljazeera, with Banque Saudi Fransi acting as Facility Agent.

President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) Abdulaziz al-Duailej said that these facilities will accelerate achieving the national aviation strategy, which aims to "increase the annual passenger traffic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 330 million passengers while linking the Kingdom to more than 250 destinations around the world."

Flynas CEO Bander al-Mohanna announced that the financing program would support the company's ambitious future growth plans to become the largest and leading independent low-cost airline in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In March, the company's strategic plan was approved by the Board of Directors, in which they agreed to increase the volume of its orders to 250 aircrafts.

Since its establishment in 2007, flynas has transported more than 60 million passengers as it connects more than 70 domestic and international destinations through its fleet of more than 35 aircraft.

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Expert: Türkiye Anti-inflation Steps Don’t Go Far Enough

People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
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Expert: Türkiye Anti-inflation Steps Don’t Go Far Enough

People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters

Although Turkish inflation slowed in September, it is still raging out of control with the government avoiding difficult decisions that could help tackle it, experts told AFP.

Türkiye has experienced spiraling inflation the past two years, peaking at an annual rate of 85.5 percent in October 2022 and 75.45 percent in May.

The government claims it slowed to 49.4 percent in September.

But the figures are disputed by the ENAG group of independent economists who estimate that year-on-year inflation stood at 88.6 percent in September.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said Ankara was hoping to bring inflation down to 17.6 percent by the end of 2025 and to “single digits” by 2026.

And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hailed Türkiye’s success in “starting the process of permanent disinflation.”

“The hard times are behind us,” he said.

But economists interviewed by AFP said the surge in consumer prices in Türkiye had become “chronic” and is being exacerbated by some government policies.

“The current drop is simply due to a base effect. The price rises over the course of a month is still high, at 2.97 percent across Türkiye and 3.9 percent in Istanbul.

“You can’t call this a success story,” said Mehmet Sisman, economics professor at Istanbul’s Marmara University.

Spurning conventional economic practice of raising interest rates to curb inflation, Erdogan has long defended a policy of lowering rates. That has sent the lira sliding, further fueling inflation.

But after his reelection in May 2023, he gave Türkiye’s Central Bank free rein to raise its main interest rate from 8.5 to 50 percent between June 2023 and March 2024.

The central bank’s rate remained unchanged in September for the sixth consecutive month.

“The fight against inflation revolves around the priorities of the financial sector. As a result, it is done indirectly and generates uncertainty,” explained Erinc Yeldan, economics professor at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

But raising interest rates alone is not enough to steady inflation without addressing massive budget deficits, according to Yakup Kucukkale, an economics professor at Karadeniz Technical University.

He pointed to Türkiye’s record budget deficit of 129.6 billion lira (3.45 billion euros).

“Simsek says this is due to expenditure linked to the reconstruction in regions hit by the February 2023 earthquake,” he said of the disaster that killed more than 53,000 people.

“But the real black hole is due to the costly public-private partnership contracts,” he said, referring to infrastructure contracts which critics say are often awarded to firms close to Erdogan’s government.

Such contracts cover construction and management of everything from motorways and bridges to hospitals and airports, and are often accompanied by generous guarantees such as state compensation in the event they are underused.

“We should question these contracts, which are a burden on the budget because this compensation is indexed to the dollar or the euro,” said Kucukkale.

Anti-inflation measures also tend to impact low-income households at a time when the minimum wage hasn’t been raised since January, he said.

“But these people already have little purchasing power. To lower demand, such measures must target higher-income groups, but there is hardly anything affecting them,” he said.