Saudi Arabia plans new national airline in move away from oil

The move is part of a plan to make the kingdom a global logistics hub, and build ports, rail and road networks.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced plans on Tuesday to launch a second national airline as part of a broader strategy to turn the kingdom into a global logistics hub as it seeks to diversify from oil. The creation of another flag carrier would catapult Saudi Arabia into the fifth rank globally in terms of air transit traffic, official state media reported, without giving details on when and how the airline would be created. Crown Prince Mohammed has been spearheading a push for Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy and the largest country in the Gulf geographically, to boost non-oil revenues to about 45 billion riyals ($12bn) by 2030.