Ex-Etihad boss Douglas is already gone again at Ria
Former Etihad Airways boss Tony Douglas did not last long at the new Riyadh International Airlines. Just a few weeks after taking office at Ria, he has already vacated his chair. Douglas became Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways in 2018 and moved to the new company in Saudi Arabia last year. He was considered the preferred candidate, although he was unable to fulfill the hopes placed in him in the Emirates. The manager was tasked with making Etihad profitable again, but that was not the case between 2015 and the first half of 2022. At Ria, which, at least on paper, had not yet been founded as an airline, it was an extremely short stint. The usually well-informed magazine "Arabian Business" reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that Ria and Douglas are going their separate ways again. Thus, the manager has left Saudi Arabia's planned major airline after just a few months. The reasons are currently not publicly known. The government of the desert state intends to use the Public Investment Fund to build a new airline. This will operate from Riyadh. Around 30 billion US dollars will be invested in a new network carrier that will be able to compete with Etihad, Qatar and Emirates. Now the company must look for a new managing director.