Boeing pledges Riyadh Air order will be ready for 2025 launch

Amid Boeing’s global travails ranging from delays in the delivery of its new generation airliners to lawsuits from the mid-flight blowout of a cabin door, the world’s No. 2 planemaker is determined not to lose Saudi Arabia.

Peter Bellew, chief operating officer of Riyadh Air, says Boeing executives have sought to assure the kingdom’s new flag carrier that the first aircraft in its fleet of purple-hued 787 Dreamliners on order will arrive in time for the airline’s projected launch in the summer of 2025.

“We have to take them on their word,” Bellew told The National in an interview on the sidelines of the U.K.’s Farnborough International Airshow that was published on Wednesday.

“They are aware we’re a startup and we don’t have older or leased aircraft to fall back on,” he said, adding “We’re in close contact with them constantly.”

Riyadh Air, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund, is a key element in Saudi Arabia’s plan to open the kingdom to visitors and attract international business.

With chic designer uniforms unveiled on a Paris runway last month, Bellew expects to hire more than 700 pilots and 3,000 cabin crew over the next two years.

Also generating pressure on Boeing is the competition for Riyadh Air’s second order which Bellew suggested is still a toss-up between the U.S. planemaker and the industry leader, Europe’s Airbus.