News

Riyadh Air And Huawei Partnership To Shape Future Of Air Travel

Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier is leaning on the Chinese tech giant’s cloud and consumer reach to shape its digital strategy.

Published

9 months ago

December 16, 2025

Nour Nasir

riyadh air and huawei partnership to shape the future of air travel

Riyadh Air has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei as it lays down the digital foundations of its operations ahead of launch, putting technology at the center of the carrier’s expansion plans.

The agreement outlines a phased collaboration across cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, loyalty platforms and mobility services. While long-term in scope, the initial push has already been outlined: China, alongside a small set of priority international markets where Riyadh Air is seeking early scale.

The MoU formalizes work already taking shape between the two companies around smart aviation and digital systems. For Riyadh Air, the goal is to operate as a digital-first airline from day one, rather than layering technology onto legacy processes later. Huawei will support the carrier’s broader digital build-out, drawing on its experience in cloud, AI and consumer-facing ecosystems.

China sits at the core of the strategy: Around 20% of smartphone users in the country use Huawei devices, giving Riyadh Air access to a tightly controlled digital environment shaped by local platforms and habits. The airline plans to tailor market-specific journeys covering ticket selection, booking and in-trip engagement.

“[The] China market is an important part of Riyadh Air’s global expansion and essential to Saudi Arabia’s tourism growth,” said Vincent Coste, chief commercial officer of Riyadh Air. “As the Kingdom raises its target to 150 million tourists by 2030 our partnership with Huawei strengthens our ability to deliver the digital, seamless and personalized journey Chinese guests travelers expect”.

Also Read: Cartlow Rolls Out Subscription Model For GCC Retail Platform

Coste said the airline aims to act as a bridge between Saudi Arabia and China, and Huawei’s consumer footprint — more than 730 million monthly active users worldwide — is expected to help introduce travelers to the new carrier’s digital lifestyle ecosystem, Sfeer.

Riyadh Air plans to serve more than 100 destinations by 2030. As competition among Gulf carriers tightens, the airline is betting that a tightly integrated digital technology stack, built early and tuned to outbound markets like China, can set it apart.

Related Topics:Aviation Huawei Riyadh Air Saudi Arabia

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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.