Vision 2030 will transform the Middle East in amazing ways, says OAG.

OAG has been taking a close look at the impact of Saudi Arabia’s US$43.3 trillion Vision 2030 investment, whose aim is to make the kingdom the key commercial and cultural centre in the Middle East.

“[Vision 2030] aims to eclipse anything yet seen in the United Arab Emirates, or more recently Qatar,” OAG said.

The aviation market will see some of the biggest changes as Saudi Arabia builds airports in new cities, and launches new airlines to bring in international tourists to experience new destinations and experiences.

According to OAG, an additional 150,000 hotel rooms will become available in the next few years, including seven-star luxury accommodation investments in locations such as Al Ula and the Red Sea Resorts.

“Hopes are for over half a million hotel rooms to be available per night by 2030,” OAG added.

Vision 2030 has a target to reach 300 million air passengers by 2030, 100 million of them tourists, which OAG says is an “extremely ambitious target”.

Saudi Arabia is already preparing Riyadh Air for take-off and OAG expects the kingdom to announce “one or two other carriers” in the next few months, including NEOM Air, which will be a full-service, all-luxury airline.

Aircraft aside, OAG says a larger point is perhaps the availability of qualified staff to run the operational side of enlarged airline operations.

Whilst Riyadh Air aims to be digitally native, and NEOM Air hopes to operate ‘innovative aircraft’, OAG says “attracting a pool of qualified pilots with experience may be challenging”.

The BBC has also indicated that in recent months, Saudi Arabia has “seemingly scaled back plans for its vast desert development project Neom”, which is the centrepiece of Vision 2030.

Also being scaled back is The Line, a planned 170km long linear city which may now initially extend for only 2.4km. When The Line was first announced it was billed as a “carbon-free linear city” that would redefine urban living, with amenities for residents like parks, waterfalls, flying taxis, and robot maids.

https://www.travelweekly-asia.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Vision-is-2030-for-ambitious-Saudi-Arabia