Saudi Arabia’s low-cost carrier, flynas, revealed on Monday an extensive expansion aimed at bolstering its presence in the UAE.
The airline has included Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in its Dubai network, which is currently operated from flynas’ primary bases in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madina.
By September 2024, flynas will become the sole Saudi Arabian airline serving four major airports in the UAE.
Following the expansion, the number of routes between the two countries will surge from the existing four to none, facilitating an impressive expansion to over 20 daily flights.
Bander Almohanna, Managing director and CEO of flynas, expressed enthusiasm, noting, “We are delighted to enhance air connectivity between KSA and UAE, which reflects flynas’ commitment to move further in its growth and expansion plan under the slogan (We Connect The World With the Kingdom), while introducing new routes to facilitate travel between the two nations.”
Almoohanna further elaborated that by capitalising on operational excellence and doubling the fleet size in less than two years, the airline aims to sustain its growth to better serve the burgeoning low-cost travel market in the region.
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Strategic expansion
Furthermore, the expansion aligns with flynas’ growth strategies, as well as the National Civil Aviation strategy, which aims to enable national carriers to link KSA with 250 international destinations, accommodate 330 million passengers annually, and welcome 100 million tourists yearly by 2030.
Additionally, it resonates with the objectives of the Pilgrims Experience Program (PEP) to streamline access to the Kingdom’s two holy mosques.
With the latest expansion, flynas will operate flights to the UAE from all four of its operational bases across the Kingdom.
The airline will commence flights from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH) to DWC, Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) and Madinah’s Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) to Zayed International Airport (AUH) in Abu Dhabi, as well to Sharjah International Airport (SHJ).
flynas presently connects over 70 domestic and international destinations with more than 1500 weekly flights and has served over 78 million passengers since its inception in 2007.
The airline aims to expand its reach to 165 domestic and international destinations in line with the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030.
In a separate development, the airline recently announced its plans to launch an Initial Oublic Offering (IPO) in 2024.
Additinally, the airline also revealed plans to acquire 30 wide-body aircraft as part of its broader expansion strategy aimed at enhancing its fleet and bolstering its regional foothold.
