Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air has announced that it has exercised purchase options for 28 additional Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, including converting 20 aircraft to the larger Boeing 787-10, raising its total firm orders to 67 aircraft.
The agreement was signed during the Farnborough International Airshow in the presence of Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, and Stephanie Pope, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, along with a number of officials from the two companies, according to a post on the Riyadh Air website.
Operating both the Boeing 787-9 and 787-10 allows a high level of operational commonality, through a unified flight deck design, maintenance procedures and pilot training programs. The Boeing 787-10 offers around 50 more seats than the 787-9, while fuel consumption and emissions are 25% lower than the aircraft it replaces.
Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, said exercising the remaining options and adding the 787-10 support the airline's ability to meet demand for passenger and cargo services and provide greater flexibility to expand its long-haul network.
He added that the new aircraft will support Riyadh Air's target of connecting the Saudi capital with more than 100 destinations worldwide by 2030.
For her part, Stephanie Pope, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the additional order reflects Riyadh Air's continued reliance on the 787 family in its future plans, adding that the 787-10 will support the expansion of the airline's network and increase its operating capacity.
Riyadh Air expects the expansion of its operations to create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs and add more than $20 billion, equivalent to SAR 75 billion, to non-oil GDP by 2030.
To view the post on the Riyadh Air website, click here.
