Saudi air carrier and leading low-cost airline in the Middle East flynas welcomed three aircraft — one wide-body Airbus A330 and two A320neo — representing the second batch of 19 new aircraft to be delivered in 2023, as part of a $10 billion order to purchase 120 aircraft from Airbus, the largest order of its kind in the region at the time.
The three planes arrived in Riyadh and Jeddah, with the two new A320neo aircraft landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on May 3 and 4 and the A330 touching down at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on May 6.
flynas’ fleet currently has 48 aircraft, up 84 percent in about two years, compared to its size of 26 aircraft in the first quarter of 2021.
Bander Almohanna, CEO and managing director of flynas, said the company has achieved exceptional growth in its operations and fleet size, adding 22 aircraft during the past 26 months, as part of flynas’ commitment to moving forward with its growth and expansion strategy under the slogan “We Connect the World to the Kingdom.” The aim is to reach 165 domestic and international destinations, he said.
“Taking delivery of the three aircraft coincides with the recovery witnessed by the travel and tourism sector, with expectations of distinguished growth figures in the current summer season of 2023, especially with flynas adding 10 new destinations and routes in Asia and Europe as of next June, with the aim of boosting its ever-growing international network of flights. The delivery also coincides with the approaching Hajj season, in which the company plans to transport the largest possible number of pilgrims and visitors to the Two Holy Mosques,” Almohanna added.
flynas is moving forward with its expansion plans in its network of destinations, which requires upscaling its aircraft fleet. Almohanna said: “We recently launched two destinations to Baghdad and Irbil in Iraq, and we also signed an agreement with the Air Connectivity Program to launch five direct international destinations to the capitals of Iraq, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as to the second largest Kyrgyz city of Osh, in order to facilitate the arrival of visitors, pilgrims and Umrah performers to the Kingdom. This is in line with the national civil aviation strategy, which aims to increase the number of international destinations linked to the Kingdom to more than 250 by 2030, reaching 330 million passengers.”
The board of directors of flynas has agreed to increase the new aircraft orders to 250 aircraft, making flynas the largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa region and enhancing its capabilities to contribute to achieving the goals of the civil aviation strategy.
As the most advanced and most fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft in the world, A320neo gives a push to flynas’ performance in the field of sustainability and environmental protection. Meanwhile, the latest A330 is the fourth wide-body aircraft of its kind in the flynas fleet, reinforcing its medium and long-haul destinations.
