Business
Saudia carries 5% more passengers this year
Saudia carries 5% more passengers this year
It flew 29,492,710 passengers in 2015, up 1,309,095 from the previous year, the airline said in a release of annual statistics which excluded financial data.The carrier, known as Saudia, restated its aim of expanding its fleet to 200 aircraft by 2020.In June last year it placed an $8 billion order with France-based Airbus for 50 planes.They will be used for domestic flights, the airline says.Under its wide-ranging Vision 2030 plan announced in April, Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its oil-dependent economy.Among the measures is development of the kingdom's tourism sector, privatisation of state-owned services including airports, and a linking of transport networks to position Saudi Arabia as a regional logistics hub.Even before it unveiled its Vision 2030, the Arab world's largest economy was spending billions of dollars on building and upgrading airports.Terminal 5 recently opened at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, becoming the kingdom's first privately-run terminal.A subsidiary of state-owned Irish airport operator "daa" is the operator.The largest Middle East carrier, Emirates, said in May that it carried 51.9 million passengers in the 2015-16 fiscal year, up eight percent from the year before.Emirates has a fleet of 250 aircraft.