NEW DELHI: Aviation industry personnel in India have made a beeline for joining Saudi Arabia’s soon to be launched second national carrier Riyadh Air, that is owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
The airline website’s career portal has been open for two years on which pilots, cabin crew members, ground, maintenance staff and others can evince interest by submitting their details.
“In the last two years, we have received 14 lakh applications from 146 nationalities of which 52% are women. India is one of the biggest source countries for the applications. We are overwhelmed by the interest and faith in our brand, despite the fact that so far we have not announced any salary structures,” Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said here.
The upcoming full service airline has ordered up to 132 aircraft, Airbus A321neos and Boeing 787 Dreamliners. It is currently in talks with both Boeing and Airbus for placing orders for ultra long range wide bodies with the choice being between the B777 9X and A350-1000. It currently has one aircraft and 500 employees, including 36 cabin crew and pilots each. “After Saudis, the second biggest nationality of employees is Indians. Ditto for the population of Singapore,” he said. A large number of Indian professionals work in Middle East carriers like Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.
The airline, which is going to start operations in a few months, says India is a key market for it. “In 2024 Saudi Arabia saw 15 lakh tourists from India which was a 50% jump over previous year. 93% of flyers at Riyadh are point to point and just 7% are in transit. That shows the scope of growth from India as well as of our connecting potential from our hub, Riyadh, as our fleet grows. Nearby Doha has 80% transfer traffic and the figures for Dubai are also very high,” Douglas said.