Saudi Arabia's Al Qahtani Aviation has signed an agreement with Airbus to acquire 20 A320neo/A321neo family aircraft worth more than $2.1 billion for its SaudiGulf Airlines.

The deal, announced at the Bahrain International Airshow today, involves 10 firm orders and 10 options, said Tariq Abdul Hadi Al Qahtani, chairman of Al Qahtani Aviation/SaudiGulf Airlines.

Fouad Attar, head of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Africa and Middle East, was present at the press conference announcing the deal.

The agreement follows the decision of the board of directors of the company to introduce this type of aircraft to the fleet of SaudiGulf Airlines, at the rate of six to eight aircraft annually from the second half 2019, he said.

The airline will initially lease aircraft from leasing companies, taking up to 20 aircraft in the next three years, before the delivery of the contracted aircraft from Airbus start being delivered, he said.

SaudiGulf started domestic operations with four new Airbus A320 aircraft in October 2016 from its base at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. Earlier this year, the airline launched international flights between Riyadh and Dubai. Two aircraft have been recently added to the fleet aimed at starting operations to four destinations in Pakistan – Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Sialkot - from Dammam. - TradeArabia News Service