Saudi Arabia’s new flag carrier Riyadh Air will take off in the
middle of 2025 with CEO Tony Douglas promising the passenger experience
will be something very special on the airline’s fleet of Boeing 787
Dreamliners.
“Think the TWA (Trans World Airlines) days – style, elegance, grace,” he said.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Douglas described Riyadh Air as “probably the biggest start-up this region’s seen in the last 40 years”.
Crew uniforms will be unveiled in Paris in the middle of this year,
which Douglas said would channel the glory days of the jet-set age “with
a modern twist”.
Riyadh Air will offer business class, premium economy and economy seating but no first-class cabins.
Riyadh Air will be the first digitally native airline, according to
Abe Dev, the airline’s vice president, digital and innovation.
He said technologies such as AI and cloud computing had matured in
the last few years, along with customer expectations, “so we have a
unique opportunity to deliver a technology-enabled guest experience that
has never been seen before”.