Riyadh Air in Final Stages for Narrow-Body Aircraft Order

CEO Tony Douglas stated on Thursday that Riyadh Air, the new airline in Saudi Arabia, had advanced to the final steps of agreeing to a sizeable order of narrow-body aircraft, with a deal likely to be announced in months to come.

In June, Douglas announced for the first time that the company was discussing with Airbus and Boeing to purchase a sizable number of narrow-body aircraft.

In an event in Lisbon, he mentioned, "Probably in the coming months we’ll reveal the deal. We’re in the final stages of a sizable narrow-body order, and that one might not be our last order either.”

He stated in June that the order would be completed prior to the British event in Farnborough in July of the following year, which could imply that a deal could be revealed at the Dubai airshow in November of this year.

In two years, the new airline will begin operations in the Saudi capital of Riyadh and receive its first wide-body jet deliveries from Boeing.