Saudi Arabia has proposed subsidizing airlines that operate loss-making routes connecting it with major world cities in order to increase the number of tourists arriving in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom aims to attract 100 million visitors annually by 2030 and is offering a subsidy as part of its air connectivity program, the tourism minister said in an interview.
«The main goal is to create direct flights to our main target markets,» said Ahmed Al-Khateeb, according to Bloomberg.
«The program compensates airlines for losses from operating direct flights to these hubs that are very important to us,» he added.
Funding will come directly from the government, however the amount is unclear.
Al-Khateeb said that details about the program's budget will be available next year, adding that «we must negotiate with each carrier to determine its size.».
Most recently, Saudi Arabia's flagship carrier Saudia signed an agreement with the National Air Connectivity Program to operate direct flights between the Kingdom and four new international destinations during 2022.
Under the agreement, the airline will operate direct flights between Riyadh and Zurich in Switzerland, as well as Jeddah and Barcelona in Spain, in addition to two additional destinations to be announced later.
According to Al-Khateeb, this year the ministry plans to attract 12 million foreign tourists, as the sector continues to account for about 4 percent of the Kingdom's economic output.
By 2030, Saudi Arabia aims for the tourism sector to account for 10 percent of economic output.