RIYADH: The Kingdom’s flagship airline Saudia has launched a beta version of its digital platform, the Travel Companion, powered by advanced artificial intelligence, aiming to transform the industry.

The new initiative, unveiled during a special event, is part of a two-year plan developed in partnership with global professional services firm Accenture.

“This platform, resulting from our ongoing collaboration with Accenture, signifies our forward-looking approach to providing guests with unparalleled convenience and flexibility,” the Director General of Saudia Group, Ibrahim Al-Omar, said. 

The main objective of this launch is to transform how travelers engage with the airline and establish new benchmarks for digital travel.

TC, initially named, offers personalized and tailored solutions to meet individual preferences and needs, providing search results from trusted and authenticated sources and incorporating visual aids in its responses.

The interface is designed as a comprehensive, one-stop solution that enables users to book concierge services, including hotels, transportation, and restaurants, as well as activities and attractions, without the need to switch between multiple platforms.

“This is a beta version. This is not the product. We will keep enhancing and developing it,” Al-Omar stressed.

Moreover, it establishes seamless connections with transportation platforms and various train companies, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted journey.

Commenting on the new announcement, Chief Data and Technology Officer at Saudia, Abdulgader Attiah, told Arab News: “It’s like having the VVVIP concierge service at your hand. For public, it’s not any anymore VIP service. It’s not a paid service. You have it for free, and it will give you all what all kind of services that VVIP service would provide to you, so it’s your private concierge.”

He added: “We will be the anchor for the travel industry. We are not anymore, an operator for an airline, but with this app, you will be an anchor for all tourism ecosystem in a single app, so everyone can collaborate in this app, and having the links, so you don’t need to communicate with any other party, so through this app, you can communicate to all travel ecosystem.”

In future phases, Saudia plans to add more features, including voice command and digital payment solutions.

“Once we add the complete solution we will add the more services, which is we call it the concierge services; booking for hotels and transportation and the restaurants, all of these ones is done during the, next two years, and this is the complete life cycle of the, vision we have today,” Attiah told Arab News.

He added: “If you want to develop this app, five years back, it would take three, four years. Today, we have developed only in seven, eight months. To that from the inspirational part to having an actual booking, we started back in June and now we are live.”

Attiah also underlined that Saudia is the first airline in the world to implement a GenAI-based chatbot that can perform end-to-end actions, meaning it can not only engage in conversation but also execute tasks or actions based on user requests.

With an always-on Travel Companion available through a telecom e-SIM card provided by Saudia, users can stay connected globally without relying on additional internet providers.

Furthermore, users can purchase data packages for extended use, guaranteeing continuous access to the platform’s services.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has completed its riyal-denominated sukuk issuance for April at SR7.39 billion ($1.97 billion), representing a rise of 66.44 percent compared to the previous month. 

The National Debt Management Center revealed that the Shariah-compliant debt product was divided into three tranches. 

The first tranche, valued at SR2.35 billion, is set to mature in 2029, while the second one amounting to SR1.64 billion is due in 2031. 

The third tranche totaled SR3.51 billion and will mature in 2036. 

“The Kingdom also plans to expand funding activities during the year 2024, reaching up to a total of SR138 billion from what has been stated previously in the Annual Borrowing Plan, with a portion of this amount already covered up to date,” said NDMC in a press statement. 

It added: “This step comes with the aim of capitalizing on market opportunities to achieve proactive financing for the coming year and utilizing it to bolster the state’s general reserves or seize additional opportunities to enhance transformative spending during this year, thereby accelerating strategic projects and programs of Saudi Vision 2030.” 

In March, NDMC concluded its second government sukuk savings round for March, with a total volume of requests reaching SR959 million, allocated to 37,000 applicants. 

The center added that the financial product, also known as Sah, offers a return of 5.64 percent, with a maturity date in March 2025. 

Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings, in a report, said that global sukuk issuance is expected to continue growing in the coming months of this year, driven by funding and refinancing demands. 

The credit rating agency noted that various other factors like economic diversification efforts by countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and development of the debt capital market will also propel the growth of the market in the future. 

In January, another report released by S&P Global revealed that sukuk issuance worldwide is expected to total between $160 billion and $170 billion in 2024, driven by higher financing needs in Islamic nations.

The report noted that higher financing needs in some core Islamic finance countries and easing liquidity conditions across the world are two crucial factors which will drive the growth of the market this year.