Riyadh Air has been overwhelmed with more than 900,000 applicants from 146 nationalities who want to work with the Riyadh-based carrier that is due to start operations in 2025.

According to the airline’s CCO Vincent Coste, the airline opened the job application website in March

“It's amazing and beyond our wildest expectations, Mr Coste said.

“People are genuinely interested in joining this startup. I suspect there is a feeling that it's going to be very special and there is global interest.”

And there is huge interest in Saudi Arabia as a tourist destination Mr Coste said.

“Here at World Travel Market this week, Saudi Arabia is the centre of all attention. The pavilion of Saudi Arabia is full from morning to evening.

“We can feel a great interest from the tourism ecosystem for this new destination.

“We travel all around the world, but very few of us know Saudi Arabia. So that creates great excitement, Mr Coste said

On the airline’s strategic plans, Mr Coste said that it was well organized within Riyadh Air “with very clear milestones, and work streams across all dimensions.

“We have a clear delivery plan until the start of sales towards the end of 2024 and the first flight sometime Q2 2025.

“The airline is on target for delivery dates and we have a lot of announcements coming up in the six to eight weeks around operations, technical, digital.

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The first major announcement is expected at the Dubai Air Show which starts on Monday.

Riyadh Air has 72 Boeing 787s on order and is due to announce its narrow-body aircraft order soon.

Mr Coste confirms that the 787s will be configured for Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class seating.

“Our Business Class will be very close to First Class,” Mr Coste said. “It’s stunning.”

“But what will truly differentiate us beyond, the seats, is the in-flight entertainment, the connectivity and the whole digital experience.

“The entire effort of our commercial department, our guest experience department, our operational department, is to focus on this. We want the smartphone to be a tool that enables travel, that enables passengers to control travel during the entire guest journey.

“And we have a fantastic chance. I've worked 30 years in the airline industry in the commercial space and guest experience and its always been constrained by the legacy digital stack that I had in my different airlines.

“Here we have the zero-stack, which is a blessing and we are collectively focusing on this chance to deliver a fantastic digital experience.

“It will be a digital delight,” Mr Coste promises.