Saudi regulator grants Air Arabia consortium carrier licence for Dammam-based low-cost airline

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has granted an Air Operator Certificate to a consortium led by Air Arabia, bringing the group closer to launching a national low-cost carrier in the kingdom.

The government said on September 14, 2026 that the licence bases the new carrier at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. The consortium consists of UAE-based Air Arabia, Kun Investment Holding and Nesma Holding, and is majority Saudi-owned.

GACA said the group met all technical, safety and regulatory compliance requirements under the implementing regulations of the Civil Aviation Law. Transport Minister Saleh Al-Jasser, who chairs the GACA board, and GACA President Abdulaziz Al-Duaile presented the certificate at a signing ceremony.

Captain Sulaiman bin Saleh Almuhaimedi, the authority's executive vice president for aviation safety and environmental sustainability, said the Dammam operation would strengthen competition, stimulate economic and tourism activity in the Eastern Region, and create local jobs. The step, he said, reflects the regulator's role in building an attractive investment environment for air transport.

GACA announced in July 2025 that the Air Arabia consortium had won the bidding process to set up and run the new national low-cost airline.

Air Arabia calls itself the Middle East and North Africa's first and largest low-cost carrier. It flies more than 170 routes from hubs in Sharjah, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan. Its group fleet is all-Airbus and numbers 97 aircraft: 76 A320-200s, 12 A320neos, three A321-200s and six A321neos, according to Planespotters.net.

The sources do not state when the new airline is expected to begin flying.