Riyadh Air narrow-body jet order not finalized: COO

Riyadh Air Chief Operating Officer Peter Bellew said on Monday that the Saudi Arabian state-owned airline was still in talks over a future narrow-body aircraft order.

Bellew, speaking at the Dubai Airshow, declined to say when the airline, which is scheduled to start operations in 2025, would place that order.

Chief Executive Tony Douglas this month said the airline would buy a “sizeable” number of narrow-body aircraft in the coming weeks.

“We will at some stage order narrow body aircraft but we are still in negotiations,” COO Peter Bellew told Reuters on the
sidelines of the week-long Dubai Airshow.

“We are trying to optimize the best deal for the airline, we are working closely with the manufacturers on it,” he said, adding: “Nothing is ever over in life till it’s over.”

In previous years, the Dubai Airshow has seen a frenzy of aircraft order announcements by the likes of Emirates and other Gulf carriers.

Saudi Arabia has established Riyadh Air as part of the crown prince’s plan to diversify the Kingdom’s economy which is largely dependent on its huge oil industry.

Bellew said that the airline planned to operate about 170 aircraft by 2030 and had so far hired 150 staff, including 20 pilots.