The board of state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines, will be restructured as the carrier targets profitability by 2020. King Salman, who heads the cabinet, will appoint a head for the board of directors, which will comprise four members from the public sector and another five members from the private sector pending cabinet approval, the official Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday. This comes following the approval of a 270 billion riyal National Transformation Plan for 2020, a key element of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision that aims to strengthen the country’s various sectors and lower dependence on oil.
The Saudia Group, the airline’s parent company, plans to launch a budget airline and a business jet unit to diversify the group’s operations, Saleh Al Jasser, the group’s director general, said in April. The low-cost airline called Flyadeal will be based in Jeddah and is expected to be launched in 2017. It will start with three, 48-seat A319 aircraft.