KUALA LUMPUR: Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air will begin its test flight in October this year to several key cities worldwide including Kuala Lumpur as the airline gears up to start operating in 2025.
Riyadh Air chief operating officer Peter Bellew said the test flight, using a leased Boeing B787-9 aircraft powered by General Electric engine, will make a stop at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1.
"We'll operate there (Kuala Lumpur) and back (as part of the test flight). The only people that we're allowed to carry are our own crew and some inspectors from the regulator in Saudi Arabia."
"But it shows that we do plan to go to Kuala Lumpur. We wouldn't be going to Kuala Lumpur for test flight if we didn't plan to operate direct route there in the future," Bellew told Business Times in an exclusive interview last week during the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 80th annual general meeting and the World Air Transport Summit 2024.
Bellew added that Southeast Asia is a top priority in Riyadh Air's route network as there have been increasing business and leisure travellers from the region, including Malaysia, to Saudi Arabia over the last few years.
Kuala Lumpur will be the furthest destination that Riyadh Air will fly to during its test flight programme.
Bellew said the airline has had fruitful discussions with the transportation authorities from Malaysia and Singapore as well as Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).
"We couldn't be more welcomed. They really have made every effort to try and get us to look at starting a direct route," he said, adding that the carrier plans to introduce Kuala Lumpur into its route network within two to three years after it begins operation.
Riyadh Air, owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund with an IATA airline designator code RX, ordered its first batch of 39 widebody B787-9 Dreamliners in March 2023 with an option for another 33 B787-9s.
The airline expects to receive its first widebody aircraft in the second quarter of 2025 before it could kick start its operations by flying to major cities in Europe, China, India and Southeast Asia.
Bellew said the carrier is looking forward to receiving all 39 widebody aircraft within three years and it is also talking to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) about an order for narrowbody aeroplanes.
The discussions on a new single-aisle aircraft order would be finalised in the next couple of months, he said.
The game plan for Riyadh Air is to build its network through bilateral partnerships and code shares with other airlines as it has recently done with Air China Ltd., China Eastern Airlines and Singapore Airlines.
"There has been a lot of interest to partner with us. Right now, there are no plans to join any big (airline) alliances…We're going to be creating a lot of new connectivity to places where it's very difficult to get to at the moment. So, it makes a lot of sense for us to partner with different airlines," Bellew said.
Riyadh Air is Saudi Arabia's second national airline and is based in its capital, Riyadh. The jingdom's first flag carrier is Saudia, based in Jeddah.
Bellew said Riyadh Air will focus on creating direct connectivity to Riyadh from the rest of the world as the capital city strengthens its position as one of the top financial centres globally.
"Riyadh at the moment is under connected. It's quite a difficult place to get to internationally. Many people have to travel via an intermediate point. We feel that we're opening a door here to give people a choice (for direct route) with a great value airline with superb product."
"Generally, if you can get a six or seven-hour flight direct from somewhere, it's much better than getting a five-hour flight to somewhere and hanging around for a couple of hours and getting a two-hour flight to Riyadh. That's the market we're chasing," Bellew said.
He added that currently travellers are travelling to Riyadh via other cities such as Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha.
Bellew said Riyadh Air would have a small domestic footprint as it relies on partnerships with local carriers such as Saudia for its home-base routes.
The airline's focus would be on providing value-for-money services, which include ensuring punctuality, proper handling of baggage and offering seamless connectivity to its passengers.
"It's a simple enough objective, which is hard to achieve but we'd be hoping to pitch ourselves at the same level of punctuality as somebody like Japan Airlines.
"We have a brand-new fleet and a highly trained group of people. It should be possible for us to operate a really efficient on-time network with one hub," Bellew said, adding that Riyadh Air's preparation to begin its services is moving along pretty quickly