Saudi Arabia’s plans to significantly expand its aviation industry are not confined to the development of its airline sector and expanding its airports’ capacity and their connectivity with the rest of the world.
Days ahead of the Future Aviation Forum, which will take place in Riyadh May 20-22, 2024, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia has shared some details of its ambitious plans for the Kingdom’s private aviation industry.
GACA aims to increase the size of Saudi Arabia’s executive aviation sector tenfold before the end of this decade, so that by 2030 it becomes a $2 billion industry.
Since 2023, the Saudi aviation authority has started to implement a number of liberalizing measures to foster the growth of this segment of the industry.
These include measures such as lifting restrictions on the commercialization of the so-called “empty legs”, which allows operators to sell trips on repositioning executive aircraft that otherwise would have flown empty between two assignments, and a simplification of the economic license requirements for operators and investors in the sector.
GACA expects aircraft owners, lessors, investors and other operators and companies servicing the executive aviation industry to participate in the further advancement of this industry in the Kingdom.
Full details of the roadmap will be shared at the 2024 Future Aviation Forum.