Saudia reports big rise in international passengers

Alamy via Reuters

• Airline records 24% increase in H1
• Hajj pilgrimage helped
• Tourism part of Vision 2030

Saudi Arabia’s national carrier Saudia reported a 24 percent increase in international passengers to 9.1 million in the first half of 2024.

There was also a 13 percent rise in the number of flights.

The Hajj pilgrimage in June played a large part in the growth. 

The number of passengers flying on domestic routes rose 14 percent to 7.2 million, with a 10 percent increase in flights, the airline said.

---

---

Saudia is expanding its fleet as it prepares for the arrival of a second national carrier next year, the Public Investment Fund-owned Riyadh Air. 

In May Saudia ordered 105 aircraft from Airbus with the first batch due for delivery in early 2026. The company’s director general Ibrahim Al-Omar called it “the largest deal in Saudi aviation history”. Fifty-one of the jets will go to Saudia’s low-cost subsidiary flyadeal. 

Over 1.8 million people took part in the Hajj, around 88 percent of them coming from abroad and mostly by air. 

• Saudia announces ‘largest deal in Saudi aviation history’
• Flyadeal confirms order of 51 Airbus narrowbody jets
• Pilgrims remain bedrock of Saudi tourism plans

Religious tourism accounted for nearly 50 percent of 27 million international visitors in 2023 and is central to government ambitions to elevate tourism to 10 percent of GDP by 2030. 

The travel sector is experiencing a huge expansion to help achieve this goal. Domestic airports are being privatised and more licences given to low-cost operators. A new airport is under construction in Riyadh that will be home to Riyadh Air from 2030. 

The country’s total number of air passengers rose 26 percent to 112 million in 2023, including a 46 percent rise in the total number of international travellers to 61 million, but it faces stiff competition from Dubai, the region’s busiest airport. 

Jeddah-based Saudia has said little about how it will complement Riyadh Air but pilgrim tourism seems central to the focus. 

““In the first half of 2024 we successfully executed both our summer and Hajj season plans,” Al-Omar said.