In recent years, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed great progress in many fields, especially in aviation, from buying new planes to cooperating with other Airlines. Top of these Airlines is Turkish Air, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Riyadh Air for a strategic partnership. So, what does this MoU offer for both parties? And what happened behind the doors of this partnership?

What Does This MoU Offer?

The MoU offers benefits to the customers of both Riyadh and Turkish Airlines with the potential to expand this partnership. The strategic partnership also calls for “Comprehensive codeshare and interline agreement” according to the official statements. Another benefit of this agreement is offering a loyalty program that allows customers of both Airlines to earn points or credits on codeshare flights. According to official statements, these benefits will be available for travelers after Riyadh Air launched operations in mid-2025. Both Airlines announced this happy news about their strategic partnership on their Twitter accounts. However, a lot happened behind the scenes to lead to this progressive agreement.

What Happened Behind the Doors of this Partnership?

As a host of the ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN2023), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia exerts its efforts to be a real player and a serious competitor in the aviation field. So, Saudi airlines, especially Riyadh Air, seek international competition rather than the Gulf one. Therefore, this partnership between Riyah Air and Turkish Air was only a standard step for the Saudi ambition to achieve global progress in the aviation field. The signing ceremony of the partnership was attended by the Riyadh Air CEO, Tony Douglas, and the Turkish Airlines Chief Investment & Technology Officer, Levent Konukcu. According to Douglas, “This agreement is another very significant step in the evolution of Riyadh Air as we partner with the world’s largest global airline by destinations served.” Konukuc stated, “This Memorandum of Understanding is more than a collaboration; it’s a bridge between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, further strengthening our ties.” However, what can we expect from Saudi aviation after this partnership?

The future of Saudi Aviation?

The development and progress in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are going rapidly and greatly, not only in the aviation sector but also in all other sectors. I think such a partnership is only one of many coming by in the future. However, only time will tell, so let’s wait and see the great future of Saudi aviation.

https://www.ft.com/content/56d42866-e99c-4034-8597-0015fc6b4928