Sources say Saudi Arabia will order about 40 Airbus A350 aircraft worth $12 billion
Oct. 24, according to Reuters, industry sources said Saudi Arabia is in advanced talks with Airbus to order nearly 40 A350 aircraft, a deal worth $12 billion that could be announced this week.
It is reported that Saudi Arabia is preparing to set up a new airline, RIA, to challenge the status of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airlines in the Gulf region. The order agreement with Airbus will be one of the strategic efforts.
It is said that if the news is confirmed, the purchase plan of the Saudi sovereign public investment fund (PIF) could be announced as early as this week, when Riyadh will host the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum.
It is not clear whether Boeing will also receive purchase orders from the new airlines. Neither Airbus nor Boeing commented.
