The Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued a comprehensive blueprint setting out a roadmap for business and general aviation to 2030. The document – Saudi Arabia: A New Global Hub for General Aviation – sets out major new proposals to increase the number of airports, aircraft operators, MROs and FBOs. The proposal is a part of the Vision 2030 strategy to diversify and expand the Saudi economy set out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The blueprint is predicated on tourism to the Kingdom growing by 250% by 2030. In perhaps the most striking prediction, the report anticipates that there will be 24 bizjet flights per 10,000 of the population by 2030, compared to just five in 2021. By 2030, GACA predicts that the sector will create 35,000 new jobs and contribute some SAR7.80 billion (USD2.08 billion) to the economy.