Arab News, Tuesday, May 23, 2023 | Thul-Qidah 3, 1444
Saudi Arabia’s budget airline flynas records 47% rise in Q1 revenue
Saudi Arabia:
Amid strategic expansion plans, Saudi Arabia’s low-cost airline flynas reported
47 percent growth in revenue in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to the
same period last year, with the number of passengers reaching over 2.4 million.
According to an official statement, the number of
flights also increased more than 13 percent in 2023 — to 17,000 from 15,000 in
the first quarter of the previous year.
Bander Al-Mohanna, CEO and managing director of
flynas, attributed the growth to the strategic expansion plan launched in early
2022 under the slogan "We Link the World to the Kingdom" that allowed the
airline to increase its fleet size to 48 aircraft by May 2023 and saw the launch
of new international and domestic routes.
“We announced adding 10 new destinations and
routes in Asia and Europe during the 2023 summer season, as of next June,
bringing the total summer destinations to 20, as we keep expanding our
ever-growing international network, notably after the company’s board of
directors approved increasing our orders for new aircraft to 250 aircraft and
our plan to obtain an Air Operator Certificate in two more countries, to double
operations and expansion internationally,” Al-Mohanna added.
The CEO emphasized flynas’ ambition to achieve the
targets set by the National Strategy for Civil Aviation, which seeks to increase
air connectivity to 250 destinations, reaching 330 million passengers, and
double air cargo capacity to 4.5 million tons by 2030.
“We will keep cementing our position as the
largest low-cost airline in the Middle East, and one of the top 10 low-cost
airlines in the world. We aim to advance in the global rankings to be among the
top five companies in our category worldwide and to be the largest owner of
modern aircraft in the region,” the executive said.