Saudi Arabian Airlines, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will become the first airline in the world to operate the new Airbus A330-300 Regional after agreeing to purchase 20 aircraft in a deal announced on the opening day of the Paris Air Show.
Passenger demand in Saudi Arabia is experiencing high growth both on domestic and regional routes and the new A330-300 Regional variant, specially designed for regional and domestic operations, is Airbus’ solution for markets with large populations and fast growing, concentrated air traffic flows.
The A330-300 Regional is set to boost capacity on several of Saudi Arabian Airlines most in-demand routes, enabling the airline to better serve the Saudi Arabian and regional travelling public.
“The A330-300 Regional’s unique flexibility, high capacity and operational capabilities will enable us to expand our domestic and regional network and better absorb growing passenger traffic. Introducing the A330-300 Regional in our current fleet is an ideal choice and follows our previous commitment to a family of aircraft which already successfully helped us achieve our ambitions,” said Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, director general, Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The airline already operates 12 A330-300s and 50 A320 Family variants and alongside the A330-300 Regional has also committed to add 30 A320ceos to its fast-growing fleet.
The A330-300 Regional is optimised to seat up to 400 passengers on missions up to 3,000 nm and offers significant cost savings through a reduced operational weight of around 200 tonnes. The reduction in fuel burn per seat and maintenance costs will result in an overall cost reduction by up to 26 per cent compared with the today’s long-range A330-300. In addition, the A330 Regional benefits from the latest A350 XWB and A380 technologies.
“We salute Saudi Arabian Airlines for becoming the launch operator of the A330-300 Regional. We see a significant market opportunity for this exceptional aircraft, which features a unique combination of unbeatable economics and fuel efficiency,” said John Leahy, chief operating officer, customers, Airbus.
“Undoubtedly the A330-300 Regional will support Saudi Arabian Airlines to expand its network in the region in the most efficient way by offering increased capacity and world-class comfort,” added the manufacturer’s sales chief.
Saudia currently utilises its A330-300s on the busy Jeddah – Riyadh city pair, a route that will be more efficiently served using the new A330-300 Regional. Alongside the domestic offering, the Saudi national carrier also uses its A330s between Jeddah and Tunis and between Riyadh and Addis Ababa, Bangalore, Beirut, Cairo, Chennai, Cochin, Dubai, Hyderabad and Lucknow (based on June 2015 schedules).
Our analysis of flight data from OAG Schedules Analyser shows that the Saudi Arabian domestic market has grown by 50.8 per cent between 2005 and 2014, an average annual rise of 5.6 per cent. It is forecasted to rise a further 2.7 per cent in 2015, based on published schedules. Saudia had a massive 82.5 per cent share of the annual capacity last year, albeit this is down from 98.8 per cent in 2005 after the opening of the local market to competition.
The Saudi Arabian international market has grown at a faster rate than its domestic activities with two-way capacity rising by 218.8 per cent between 2005 and 2014, an average annual rise of 24.3 per cent. It is forecasted to rise a further 5.6 per cent in 2015, based on published schedules.
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