Saudi low-cost airline flynas welcomed the third Airbus A330 aircraft to its fleet earlier this month, as it expands its wide-body capacity over the Hajj season.
The wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft joined the flynas fleet when it arrived at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah at the beginning of the month.
The new fleet acquisition represents the latest push to expand flynas operations and double its fleet size to serve pilgrims, Umrah performers, and visitors to the Kingdom.
The Saudi carrier has already started operating two other Airbus A330 aircraft, delivered last December.
These wide-body aircraft boosted the operational capacity and increased the potential number of passengers on new medium-to-long-haul destinations.
Saudi national strategy
The move by the airline to bolster its widebody fleet is in line with the National Civil Aviation Strategy to reach 330 million passengers and increasing the number of international destinations linked to the Kingdom to more than 250 destinations by 2030.
Further supporting this initiative, flynas has also signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Air Connectivity Program (ACP) to launch five new international destinations.
The destinations include the capitals of Iraq, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan.
This collaboration aims to further facilitate the arrival of visitors to the Kingdom.
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International network expansion
Under the agreement, flynas will operate direct flights to Abuja, the Nigerian capital, from Jeddah, and direct flights between Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, as well as Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah.
Three other destinations in Central Asia will be launched, including direct flights from Jeddah to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and Osh, the second largest city in the country.
The fifth new direct flight will operate between Jeddah and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
During the signing ceremony, Bander Almohanna, flynas CEO and Managing Director, stated:
“The new agreement strengthens the partnership between flynas and the Air Connectivity Program, and supports the company’s growth and expansion strategy launched under the slogan ‘Connecting the World to the Kingdom’, which aims to reach 165 destinations.”
Almohanna emphasized that connecting direct flights with these five new cities distributed between Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, will enhance flynas’ ability to serve pilgrims and Umrah performers.
It will also further contribute to achieving the objectives of the Air Connectivity Program by establishing new routes, opening new horizons for tourism, trade exchange, and economic opportunities.
About flynas
flynas, the Saudi air carrier and the leading low-cost airline in the Middle East with 38 aircraft, operating more than 1500 weekly flights to 70 domestic and international destinations.
Since its launch in 2007, flynas has transported more than 60 million passengers. Recently in 2022, flynas has been awarded the Skytrax Award as the Best Low-Cost Airline in the Middle East for the fifth time in a row 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021.
In addition, it was ranked among the top 10 Low-Cost Airline worldwide, as per the prestigious Skytrax which is the most important global forum for the aviation industry.
flynas has earned several accolades, including the Middle East’s Leading Low-Cost Airline award from the World Travel Awards for eight consecutive years, from 2015 to 2022.
In addition, it was ranked in the 4-star low-cost carrier category, the highest category of the low-cost airline in the world by APEX rating.
