Riyadh Air has signed a deal for 90 GEnx-1B engines at the Paris Air Show to power its new fleet of 39 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

The order also includes spare engines and a TrueChoice services agreement.

Tony Douglas, Chief Executive Officer of Riyadh Air said, “The agreement highlights our determination to significantly extend Saudi Arabia’s connectivity with the world and fulfil our goal of connecting to 100 destinations by 2030."

"We look forward to fostering strong strategic relationships within the wider aviation ecosystem as we continue to shape our new digitally native airline to become one of the most sustainable and guest- centric carriers in the world,” he added.

Riyadh Air, which will start flying in 2025, has made its first international debut at the 54th bi-annual Paris Air Show. It is owned by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, PIF. It will fly to more than 100 destinations, and reach 100 million visitors, by 2030.

Riyadh Air is expected to add $20 billion to non-oil GDP growth and create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.

GE Aerospace is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and systems for commercial and military aircraft with a global service network to support these offerings.

Russell Stokes, President & CEO, Commercial Engines and Services for GE Aerospace, said: "GE Aerospace’s GEnx engine is a perfect fit for the 787 fleet with its combination of power and the ability to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.”

GEnx’s revenue-sharing participants are IHI Corporation of Japan, GKN Aerospace Engine Systems of the UK, MTU of Germany, TechSpace Aero (Safran) of Belgium, Safran Aircraft Engines of France and Samsung Techwin of Korea.

(Writing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com; editing by Daniel Luiz)