Middle East commercial aviation market is moving fast: while Emirates and Qatar are trying to consolidate their leading position by intense and unexpected codesharing, a new project is growing in Saudi Arabia.
According to Arabian Business, the new airline RIA is seeking to incorporate Etihad’s Tony Douglas for him to be its first CEO. The media cites sources that affirm that Douglas – Etihad’s CEO since January 2018– is RIA’s “top choice”.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), leading RIA’s project and sole investor, remains confident on securing Douglas for the job. Given Etihad’s dire situation and PIF’s 30-billion capital availability, it wouldn’t be a surprise if its current CEO jumps out of the boat and chooses a different but better funded challenge.
With an extensive career at transportation and infrastructure, Douglas would oversee a gradual expansion of a new carrier that initially is aiming to cover a short-medium haul segment, far from the long-haul, luxury experience Etihad now provides.
Eventually, for a 30-million-passenger-per-year objective to be achieved, the carrier will need to expand to long and ultra-long-haul destinations. The idea is to base this new company in Riyadh, without competing directly with Saudia, which has its headquarters in Jeddah.
