Finance
Riyadh Air willing to buy Boeing planes from cancelled Chinese orders, CEO says
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on April 28, 2025
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on April 28, 2025
By Hadeel Al Sayegh and Manya Saini
DUBAI (Reuters) - Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas on Monday said that the Saudi startup carrier would be ready to buy Boeing aircraft destined for Chinese airlines if they are not delivered due to the escalating trade war between the United States and China.
Boeing is looking to resell potentially dozens of planes locked out of China by tariffs after repatriating a third jet to the United States in a delivery standoff that drew new criticism of Beijing from U.S. President Donald Trump.
"What we've done... is made it quite clear to Boeing, should that ever happen, and the keyword there is should, we'll happily take them all," Douglas said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market conference.
Boeing took the rare step of publicly flagging the potential aircraft sale during an analyst call last week, saying that there would be no shortage of buyers in a tight jet market.
Riyadh Air, backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, has been ordering planes from both Boeing and Airbus ahead of its launch, including 60 narrow-body A321-family jets from Airbus in October and up to 72 Boeing 787 Dreamliners ordered in March 2023.
The airline does not expect delivery delays from either airline to be resolved any time soon.
Douglas said Riyadh Air had not seen any impact on demand for travel to and from the kingdom's capital from global macroeconomic uncertainty, adding that the company plans to announce an order for wide-body jets this summer.
The airline, which is aiming to launch in the fourth quarter, has hired 500 employees and intends to increase its workforce to 1,000 over the next 9 to 12 months, Douglas said.
Thereafter, hiring of pilots and cabin crew will steadily continue as aircraft are delivered.
(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Manya Saini in Dubai; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)