Wizz Air Holdings may enter the Saudi market after it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the kingdom's ministry of investment to explore airline market development opportunities.
"The MoU reflects a shared vision between the parties on the potential Wizz Air could bring to the Kingdom to stimulate new demand, thereby making a significant contribution to Saudi Arabia’s planned growth," the European LCC holding said in a statement.
"The parties will work together to enable potential investment and operating models to benefit and add to the Saudi Arabian aviation ecosystem, boosting its tourism industry and significantly increasing its connectivity."
At present, Wizz Air Holdings has an operational subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates - Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (5W, Abu Dhabi International) - which operates four A321-200NX on scheduled flights spanning North Africa, the Gulf, Southeastern Europe, the CIS, and Sri Lanka. Additional growth is expected this year with the fleet set to double by October.
For its part, Saudi Arabia plans to pump USD100 billion into its aviation sector by the end of this decade in an effort to transform the country into the Middle East's main cargo and passenger hub.
“We will also launch an additional national carrier to be among the world’s best airlines and we will upgrade all our facilities, infrastructure, and airports led by our hubs namely Riyadh and Jeddah International,” Saudi Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser told the inaugural ceremony of the Future Aviation Forum this week.
Saudi Arabia aims to process 300 million passengers and five million tonnes of freight per annum reaching 250 destinations by 2030.
At present, the Saudi market is home to Saudia (SV, Jeddah International), its flyadeal (F3, Jeddah International) low cost subsidiary, and the privately owned LCC flynas (XY, Riyadh).
