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Saudi Arabia Targeting 330 Million Airline Passengers a Year by 2030, Says GACA Chief

Conference held Monday to discuss the recently launched National Strategy for Transport and Logistics - SPA
Conference held Monday to discuss the recently launched National Strategy for Transport and Logistics - SPA
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Saudi Arabia Targeting 330 Million Airline Passengers a Year by 2030, Says GACA Chief

Conference held Monday to discuss the recently launched National Strategy for Transport and Logistics - SPA
Conference held Monday to discuss the recently launched National Strategy for Transport and Logistics - SPA

Saudi Arabia plans to increase the number of international aviation routes from 99 to over 250 and more than triple total annual passenger traffic from 109 million in 2019 to 330 million by 2030, said Abdulaziz Al-Duauilj, the head of the aviation authority (GACA).

Speaking during a press conference on Monday to discuss the recently launched National Strategy for Transport and Logistics, Al-Duauilj said annual capacity at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport would each expand to 100 million passengers.

He also said the kingdom was aiming to become a global air freight logistics hub, handling 4.5 million tons of air cargo a year, up from 900,000 in 2019.

Speaking at the same event, Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh bin Nasser al-Jasser affirmed the kingdom's plans to invest over 500 billion riyals ($133.34 billion) in airports, sea ports, rail and other infrastructure by the end of the decade in a bid to make Saudi Arabia a global transportation and logistics hub.

He also said that the strategy includes many mega projects, with over 500 billion riyals earmarked for investment.

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Türkiye Says Aims to Rein in Tax Breaks, Target Avoidance in Reform Plan

A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
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Türkiye Says Aims to Rein in Tax Breaks, Target Avoidance in Reform Plan

A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN
A woman takes pictures as a ferry sails on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, 29 June 2024. EPA/ERDEM SAHIN

A drive by Türkiye 's government to modernize the country's tax system will seek to boost revenue by tackling tax avoidance and scrapping incentives that are no longer needed rather than raising the overall burden, the finance minister said on Monday.

Mehmet Simsek said, however, that preliminary draft proposals being discussed within the government envisioned a minimum 15% corporate tax on multinational companies, confirming a report last month by state-owned Anadolu Agency.

According to Reuters, he did not give further details about the proposal. At present, multinational companies face varying levies depending on numerous factors.

Speaking to local broadcaster BloombergHT, Simsek said the government's plans - which would need to be approved by parliament - also included raising the corporate tax on public-private partnerships (PPPs) to 30% from 25% at present.

Simsek, who has spearheaded a year-long policy-tightening program to tackle soaring inflation, said in Monday's interview that the tax plan being discussed by government officials was in the early stages and could be subject to changes before being presented to parliament.

He said there were no plans to introduce a transaction tax on the purchase and sale of stocks, but the government could propose taxes on stock market gains sometime in the future.

Earlier this month, an economy official said Türkiye had almost finalized work on imposing a transaction tax on the purchase and sale of stocks and crypto assets.
The plans are part of broader efforts to boost government savings, fiscal discipline and price stability after years of turmoil that fueled soaring inflation.

As part of the tightening program, the central bank has aggressively hiked interest rates to 50% from 8.5% since June last year. Annual inflation hit 75% in May but was expected to have dipped in June.