New base, expanded fleet and route progress: Saudi Arabia’s flynas charts formidable growth course

“Our ambition is to be the main airline in short- and medium-haul flights within the MENA area,” mentioned Almohanna. In response to the anticipated competitors from different Saudi airways, he mentioned: “We’re conscious of the entry of two new airways into the market, Riyadh Air and Neom Airways. We additionally imagine that our LCC technique could be an efficient device for enhancing Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness within the international aviation market,” he mentioned.

“We welcome the competitors and imagine it’ll drive us to proceed to enhance and innovate. We’ve set a course that goes in parallel with the introduced official plans, whether or not within the civil aviation technique (linking the Kingdom with 250 locations and reaching 300 million passengers) or within the tourism sector (reaching 100 million vacationers),” he mentioned.

Almohanna mentioned the corporate’s all-Airbus fleet has expanded 96 per cent in about two years, rising from 26 plane within the first quarter of 2021 to a present fleet dimension of 51.

Following the Paris Air Present in June, flynas firmed up an order with Airbus for 30 new A320neo household plane valued at SAR 14 billion on the present record worth, taking the airline’s whole order with Airbus to 120 A320neo plane, in alignment with the Board of Administrators’ approval to extend plane orders to 250. “Our strategic growth plan goals to make flynas the most important LCC airline within the MENA area by 2030,” mentioned Almohanna.

The airline additionally has no considerations relating to plane deliveries. “We’ve a long-standing and powerful partnership with Airbus, and we’re assured of their means to ship on our agency fleet orders.”

Almohanna mentioned the airline is working with Airbus to mitigate any potential impacts. “We additionally count on to obtain 19 A320neo plane from Airbus in 2023, which is a testomony to their dedication to delivering on our orders.”

After its latest progress into the Balkans, Central and Jap Europe, Central Asia, and elements of Western Europe, flynas can also be planning to open a model new base in Saudi Arabia later this 12 months, confirmed Almohanna. “We’ve bases in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, with a part of our community technique to hyperlink as lots of our locations to every. Our strategic plan additionally consists of launching a brand new hub in KSA within the foreseeable future,” he added. Almohanna mentioned flynas additionally set its sights on rising its worldwide footprint by establishing operational models in two extra nations.

He revealed that the airline plans to pursue Air Operator Certificates (AOCs or a certificates authorising an operator to hold out specified industrial air transport operations) in two undisclosed nations, successfully doubling the size of their operations. The precise particulars concerning the areas stay confidential for now, he mentioned.

Almohanna mentioned: “We’re connecting Dubai to a few cities in KSA (Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam) with 164 weekly flights, the very best operator frequency between UAE and Saudi Arabia. We’ll proceed to develop new routes to satisfy the growing calls for from each markets.”

The airline connects greater than 70 home and worldwide locations, with greater than 1,500 weekly flights. “By 2030, we plan to greater than double the quantity to not less than 165 home and worldwide locations,” mentioned Almohanna. “We’re continuously evaluating new routes and locations that may improve our connectivity and meet the evolving wants of our prospects,” he added.

Within the coming weeks, flynas will launch a number of new locations from Jeddah to central Asia, together with Almaty, Bishkek, Osh, and Tashkent. “We’re additionally excited to announce that we are going to be launching a brand new vacation spot to Casablanca in Africa, with extra locations to be introduced within the final quarter of 2023,” he added.

This summer season, the airline launched 10 new locations and routes and have become the primary Saudi air provider to launch direct flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to Sphinx Worldwide Airport in Cairo. The airline is now eyeing new routes within the Balkans, extra complete Central and Jap Europe, Central Asia, and Western Europe. “These have been important for progress in latest instances,” mentioned Almohanna.

“Constructing on the success of our not too long ago launched route linking Tashkent with Jeddah, we might be growing the variety of direct flights between the 2 cities to a few per week, beginning August 20,” he added. The airline may also begin direct flights from Osh, adopted by Bishkek, bringing the entire weekly flights between the 2 nations to 6.

Based on its half-yearly report, the airline’s revenues soared by 46 per cent within the first half of 2023 in comparison with final 12 months. This progress was fuelled by a 26 per cent enhance in passenger numbers, reaching roughly 5 million passengers. The airline has flown greater than 60 million passengers since its launch in 2007.

“Hajj and Umrah is a strategic sector for us,” mentioned Almohanna. Earlier than this 12 months’s Hajj season in early Might, flynas took supply of its fourth wide-body Airbus A330 plane. “This boosted operational capability and elevated the variety of passengers on new medium-to-long-haul locations,” mentioned the CEO. “We’ve transported greater than two million Hajj pilgrims and Umrah performers since inception. This 12 months alone, flynas transported greater than 101,000 pilgrims from 13 nations through the Hajj season,” he added.