Saudi Airlines, CEO, Ibrahim Koshy at the CAPA World Aviation Summit 2023

Transcript

Ibrahim Koshy:What are the latest trends in aviation? First of all, it's really nice to be here back at CAPA again. It's nice to see a great turnout. It's always nice to meet with some of the other airline executives and see how things are going for them, sharing ideas, what's working, what's not. And so good to be here. When we talk about Saudia, and yes, there are ambitious plans not only for Saudia as an airline but for the country. Yes, we've placed more widebody orders for Boeing 787s on the widebody fleet, an additional 49. There's also the narrowbody order which is shortly going to be placed, and we still have about 30 A321s still in the pipeline from a previous order coming in. So there is a lot of growth taking place. I think by the time we get to, you know, the next 8 years from now, our fleet would have grown by at least 100 aircraft. There's new routes, new destinations we know that we will be entering. So our current network of about 100 destinations should be growing by at least 50%. And all of this is fed by actual demand. It's not a demand that we're hoping to create or build it and they will come. No, we see the demand growing. On the religious sector. We were talking earlier during the conference about that growing up to 38 million annual religious passengers coming into Jeddah. We're talking about the visits to the Kingdom, and it's being fed by various segments. So we're seeing a lot on the corporate and travel side. We're seeing leisure travelers coming into the Kingdom. We're seeing 6th freedom traffic, passing through the Kingdom. And it's very interesting times for Saudia because the segments are changing and that actual demand, we're looking at certain challenges in the growth is we'd like some of the aircraft earlier rather than later. It's part of the issues post-COVID. There's a lot of supply chain issues, deliveries both on the engine and the aircraft manufacturer side. But those challenges are things we'll overcome with the industry together. And I'm quite confident that the tourism sector is going to be one of the fastest, let's say, segments growing in the Kingdom as we go forward. We have a lot of these resorts that are coming up and we've seen the bookings, the actual demand into Jeddah and to Riyadh because of the events. First of all, to put in place, when people are referring to Riyadh as a younger brother or smaller brother, They're an independent company completely. We are not— they have their own management, so I can't really talk on their behalf. But what I look at is the dynamics of any airline operating. You are coming into a market where there is demand. It makes sense. So we're really complementing each other for a challenge that actually does exist. So we'll be working strongly on bringing the tourism. Their focus will be a Riyadh hub. And you're going to be working together on the Our focus will be a Jeddah hub, but we will also serve Riyadh. We will also serve other cities within the Kingdom, and we will be connecting through our main hubs to international destinations. I think Saudi Arabia is— it's very important to Saudi Arabia. When we look at the rebrand which recently took place for Saudi Arabia, it's not about going back. It's about we're very proud of the new era we're going into, and there's a strong heritage a genuine Saudi culture that we give, and our religious passengers are very happy with that. We're also seeing a lot of people that want to visit Saudi Arabia for the first time. They're flying on Saudi with us, and our market share on the international is actually growing in a very competitive environment. So we have some of the biggest players in the Middle East, but our market share is actually growing out of the Kingdom at this time. We know going forward that the dynamics will be changing on connecting passengers and Passengers are coming to the Kingdom for shorter visits, a day or 2, 3 days and leaving. So we have to really tailor that. We're working with the airports to create that unique seamless experience. It's not going to happen overnight. We know what we're targeting. We're working with the airports, with the air navigation system in the country to ensure we're offering a seamless experience. So time is going to be very valuable for passengers in the future. That seamless experience which we were talking about, biometrics replacing travel documents, passports, it's going to be very important. The ability for the passenger to know exactly where their, you know, the flight information, everything being able to be available readily for them is going to be very important, as well as the ability to control their travel on their handset. And so we know what we need to get there and we are working on a major digital transformation, which will allow that experience to take place. And I think making Saudia and the Jeddah Airport a very, let's say, seamless experience for our passengers going forward. We're actually seeing that the Saudia brand is now the fastest-growing brand in the region on airlines. We still understand that there's a long way to go to get to the international exposure that we would like, but it's coming. It is coming. And we do We do have a strong branding initiative that's following along with this new rebrand, the logo, and you'll see it over the next few years. And I think you'll see a very strong Saudia brand coming out. When travelers think of Saudia, it will— or thinking of travel, they will recognize Saudia. Thank you.

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