BrazilRiyadh Air selects IBM Consulting as lead digital partner for take-off
Building the airline from the ground-up, soon to fly Riyadh Air is working together with industry experts across every conceivable domain. For its mission-critical digital and technology work, the carrier has selected IBM Consulting as its top partner.
Established in March 2023, Riyadh Air is a new airline that aims to become one of the region’s largest airlines. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s top officials, and financially by the Public Investment Fund, Riyadh Air expects its first flight to take off in 2025, and aims to connect passengers to over 100 destinations around the world by 2030.
“The launch of Riyadh Air is aligned to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to lead the aviation industry by transforming Saudi Arabia, given its unique strategic location, into a global aviation and trade hub,” said Tony Douglas, the former CEO of UAE-based airline Etihad Airways and now CEO of Riyadh Air.
“Our ambition is to launch our first flight in 2025 and put Riyadh Air at the cutting edge of digital technology and innovation within the aviation industry, adopting the best international sustainability and safety practices to deliver an exceptional travel experience, for our guests locally and internationally,” stated said Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer at Riyadh Air.
In realising these plans, a major role has been handed to IBM Consulting, which has been named the principal partner for digital strategy and technology. IBM Consulting will be the lead systems integrator to support creating, building and orchestrating the technology foundation that will facilitate the operations of the carrier.
“IBM Consulting will be our principal partner driving us towards our vision with their deep expertise in managing large complex systems and integration programs as well as their expertise in the travel industry,” said Boukadida.
Over the past months, IBM Consulting has already helped Riyadh Air shape its digital and technology strategy. Now in the next phase of the collaboration, the two companies are bringing strategy into digital action.
Joint teams are building the key business and technology capabilities that underpin the operating model, including implementing and integrating more than 50 airline industry solutions and core technology capabilities.
IBM Consulting will also help establish Riyadh Air’s hybrid cloud integration platform. Built on IBM’s CloudPak for Integration and Red Hat OpenShift, this platform will provide integration tools to connect applications and data within a unified and simple user experience.
One level up, serving as the lead digital partner, IBM Consulting is orchestrating the work of over 40 partners by providing program and technical governance, project management, quality assurance, change and communications management and training.
“We're proud to be Riyadh Air’s partner and help them bring this new era of the Kingdom’s aviation industry to life,” said John Granger, Senior Vice President at IBM Consulting. “A technology foundation built with an open, hybrid cloud approach and artificial intelligence can help them achieve the flexibility and agility needed to support their goal of delivering an exceptional travel experience for their guests.”
