Saudi Arabia is aiming to increase the number of international airline passengers transiting through the kingdom tenfold by the end of the decade, as well as seeking to triple annual passenger traffic, an official said.
The government launched ambitious plans last year to become a global transportation and logistics hub by 2030, with 500 billion riyal ($133.32 billion) earmarked in investment. The plans form part an economic policy to reduce the country’s reliance on oil revenue.
The strategy puts Saudi Arabia in competition with neighbor the United Arab Emirates, where flag-carrier airline Emirates focuses on transit traffic as its main source of revenue.
More than 56 million passengers flew with Emirates in 2019, while Qatar Airways, which also targets transit traffic, flew over 32 million.
Unlike Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar have no domestic aviation market.
Mohammed Alkhuraisi, head of strategy at the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation played down talk of going after transit traffic, claiming that the main focus was on encouraging increased arrivals to the Kingdom.
“We are not after the transit market,” he told Reuters.
The government wants to increase direct international flights as it looks to grow a budding tourism sector. The kingdom is also looking to position itself as a major commercial hub in the region.