Saudi’s air passenger numbers up, but off target

• 15% annual growth
• Below pace for 2030 target
• Boeing delays curb progress

Saudi Arabia recorded a 15 percent rise in air passenger numbers year on year in 2024, below the pace needed to achieve an ambitious target by 2030.

Last year 128 million passengers travelled through the kingdom’s airports, according to the General Authority for Statistics. Of these, 69 million were international travellers, while 59 million were domestic.

Saudi Arabia is hoping to reach 330 million annual passengers by 2030, implying a compound yearly increase of just over 26 percent between now and the end of the decade.

The kingdom’s aviation expansion ambitions have been slowed by delays of Boeing airliner deliveries to Riyadh Air, a Saudi Public Investment Fund-owned airline scheduled to launch later this year.

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The creation of the new airline, which is set to become the kingdom’s primary flag carrier, is part of a multi-billion dollar investment campaign to bolster the aviation sector and increase the number of annual tourists to 150 million by 2030.

Riyadh Air’s initial fleet will include 72 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 60 Airbus A320neos, and a third aircraft that is yet to be announced.

Legacy airline, Saudia, is also expanding its fleet and pivoting its business towards a focus on Jeddah on the west coast and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah is undergoing a $31 billion expansion programme to increase capacity from 40 million passengers to 114 million. 

Work is also underway to build a new King Salman Airport in Riyadh, the capital, designed to accommodate 185 million passengers a year.