KARACHI: Flyadeal, a low-cost Saudi airline, has commenced its operations in Pakistan with an inaugural flight from Riyadh to Karachi, an airline official said on Saturday.
Headquartered in Jeddah, Flyadeal is a subsidiary of Saudi national flag carrier, Saudia, and was launched on Sept. 23, 2017. Initially, it flew to destinations within the Kingdom, but expanded its network by launching flights from Dammam to Cairo in Jun. 2022.
Flyadeal’s move to expand operations to Pakistan comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to boost its tourism sector under the Vision 2030 program, which aims to attract over 150 million domestic and international tourists annually to the Kingdom by the end of the decade.
The inaugural Flyadeal flight, F3-661, arrived at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport at 8:04am on Saturday, according to a Pakistani Airport Authority (PAA) spokesperson. It was followed by the departure of another flight from Karachi to Riyadh.
“We are very proud that today was the first departure from Karachi to Riyadh of our flight,” Farooq S. Ahmad, Flyadeal’s head of sales told Arab News on Saturday.
“The capacity of the aircraft is 186 seats and the aircraft went full. In fact, [for] the next one week, all our flights are full to Jeddah and to Riyadh.”
The official said a ceremony was held at the Karachi’s Jinnah International airport to mark the occasion, with passengers receiving gifts by the airline. He said consumers inevitably benefit whenever a new airline enters the market and competition increases.
Ahmad highlighted an existing strong demand for travel between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, driven by religious tourism, the presence of a large Pakistani diaspora in the Kingdom, and general travel between the two countries.
“In the Pakistani market, Saudi Arabia is probably the number one destination,” Ahmad said. “There is, of course, the biggest attraction of Haramain Sharifain. So, people go for Hajj and Umrah there. Also, there’s a large diaspora of Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia. So, there’s a lot of home return and, blue-collar, white-collar traffic going to Saudi Arabia.”
Flyadeal’s competitive fares are expected to appeal to a broad range of travelers, according to the airline official. While the airline operates on a low-cost model, it caters to all passenger segments.
“We are a low-cost airline, but it’s not that we are targeting people only on a budget. We have more than 200 flights per day out of Jeddah, Riyadh and Damam. And our clientele is of all categories,” Ahmad said.
“So, it’s not that we are only targeting a specific class of people or specific group of people. What it is that it’s just another option in the market. We are very competitive.”
Following immense response in Pakistan, Flyadeal has already decided to double its weekly flights between Karachi and Jeddah from two to four. With two weekly flights operated between Riyadh and Karachi, it will bring the total number of flights to six from March 1, according to Ahmad.
The airline also has ambitious plans to expand its network within Pakistan.
“We have already increased our flights,” he shared. “We also have a complete plan of going to various parts of Pakistan and northern Pakistan. Eventually, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, hopefully Multan and Sialkot. We have a very comprehensive plan for Pakistan.”
Flyadeal has established an office in Karachi and currently, it is partnering with Matchless Global Group as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in Pakistan, leveraging their existing network of offices, according to the official.
The airline’s expansion into Pakistan is also expected to create employment opportunities in the South Asia country.
“Any business opportunity to any country opens up opportunities for employment,” Ahmad added.
