New Saudi carrier flyadeal receives first plane from Dubai Aerospace

New Saudi low cost airline flyadeal has received its first A320-200 aircraft from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) as it prepares to begin operations next month.

The delivery, which took place at the Airbus centre in Hamburg, Germany, is the first of eight planes to be provided to the airline by DAE.

All of the aircraft, equipped with CFM 56-5B4/3 PIP engines, will be delivered in 2017 and 2018 as part of a direct order with Airbus.

Flyadeal is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian Airlines Group, which also owns Saudi flag carrier Saudia. It will operate from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

The airline plans to provide low cost flights to the Middle East and other regions, beginning with key Saudi markets like Riyadh and Dammam.

Flights are planned to begin in September 2017.

“Flyadeal has selected key partners from across the aviation industry to deliver services that provide the most economical solutions for flyadeal’s low-fare, high value business model,” said CEO Con Korfiatis.

“Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s long-standing presence in aviation solutions presented the ideal platform to build the new fleet for flyadeal.”

DAE recently completed its acquisition of Dublin-based AWAS, in a deal that tripled its owned, managed and committed fleet to about 400 aircraft worth more than $14bn.

It is now one of the one of the world’s top aircraft lessors behind General Electric and AerCap.

Read: Dubai Aerospace is now one of the world’s largest aircraft lessors