Saudi Arabia’s largest airline, Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) is close to announcing new orders for commercial aircraft with Airbus and Boeing, the local newspaper Maaal said on Monday.
Citing undisclosed sources, the outlet said the state company is negotiating a loan of more than $3 billion for the purchase of A321, 777 and 787 jets, whose total number of units is expected to reach 70 planes.
Currently, Saudia has 159 aircraft in its fleet, including 15 Airbus A321, 39 Boeing 777 and 19 Boeing 787. In addition to these planes, the airline also has an order for 30 A320neo and 35 A321neo signed with Airbus in 2019 and which includes also 35 purchase options.
The last order placed with Boeing occurred in 2011 when the company closed a deal for eight more 777-300ERs.
