Despite major disruptions to air traffic due to the Iran war, Saudi Arabia has launched a new airline, Riyadh Air.
A plane from the new carrier landed in London on Wednesday after departing from the Saudi capital Riyadh, according to flight tracker Flightradar24.
In addition to London, the airline will initially serve Manchester, Madrid, Cairo and Dubai along with the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah from Riyadh. It is set to expand to 22 cities by March and around 100 destinations in the coming years.
Company chief executive Tony Douglas said the Indian subcontinent would be of great importance to the carrier, the al-Arabiya news service reported.
So far, the airline's stable consists of Boeing aircraft, but Douglas said he is expecting a first delivery of an Airbus plane at the end of the year.
"We’re up and running and we’re super excited,” he said, according to the report.
Riyadh Air is the country's second state airline alongside Saudia and is intended to help drive forward the kingdom's reform programme known as Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia wants to increase its importance for tourism, trade and logistics and become less dependent on oil.
Riyadh Air is meant to help bring more tourists and business travellers into the country, which competes mainly with Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in this sector.
Attacks in Gulf states with thousands of missiles and drones
In more than three months of the Iran war, air traffic, trade and tourism in the region have been disrupted in an unprecedented way. Iran attacked the Gulf states with thousands of missiles, drones and cruise missiles in retaliation for attacks by the United States and Israel. Many flights were cancelled, and ticket prices rose significantly, affecting state airlines such Qatar Airways and Emirates.
"We all hope that the conflict will be resolved very, very soon," Douglas told news channel Al-Arabiya. However, the foundations for the new airline are overall are "very, very strong," he said.
