AGBI
John Grant
10 July 2026
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aviation programme is approaching a defining moment
To hit its target of 300 million passengers by 2030, the kingdom would need to grow passenger traffic by about 25 percent a year in each of the next three years. That is not going to happen.
According to the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Saudi Arabia handled 140 million passengers in 2025, up 9 percent from 128 million in 2024.
With international demand in the first half of this year significantly affected by the US-Israel-Iran war, anything above 10 percent passenger growth in 2026 would represent a strong performance. Even that would lift annual passenger numbers to only around 154 million – just over halfway to Vision 2030’s target...
The numbers no longer add up for Vision 2030 aviation | AGBI | 10 Jul 2026
