Saudi Arabia’s flynas carries 11 million passengers in 2023

Image courtesy: flynas

Saudi Arabia’s flynas said it carried 11 million passengers in 2023, growing more than 28 per cent compared to the previous year as the budget carrier continues to expand to new markets, as the aviation industry in the kingdom is experiencing unprecedented growth on the back of the country’s economic prosperity.

The low-cost airline took delivery of 19 new aircraft in 2023, upscaling fleet size to 64 aircraft, an increase of more than 35 per cent, allowing the company to move forward with the implementation of its growth and expansion plan.

flynas also launched 57 new destinations and routes to 10 countries and inaugurated its fourth operations base at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah.

The airline launched several new domestic and international destinations including four direct weekly flights between Dammam and Hail, direct flights from Jeddah to Brussels and the European Union in cooperation with the Air Connectivity Program, and direct flights to Bahrain from Riyadh and Jeddah.

بالأرقام … تعرف على أداء ومنجزات #طيران_ناس في عام 2023 pic.twitter.com/CgvsvFZVP0

— flynas طيران ناس (@flynas) January 1, 2024

It also increased seat capacity by 22 per for domestic and international flights.

“Our continued investments to increase the fleet size and destinations network have contributed to enhancing our leading regional and global position,” said Bander Almohanna, flynas CEO and managing director.

Almohanna said the airline will keep providing innovative solutions and technologies to achieve its strategic goals, in parallel with the objectives of the Pilgrims Experience Programme and the National Civil Aviation Strategy to enable national air carriers to contribute to connecting Saudi Arabia with 250 international destinations by 2030.

The sky is not the limit for flynas

Meanwhile, flynas is moving forward with its expansion plans in its network of destinations, which requires upscaling its aircraft fleet. flynas took delivery of three new Airbus A320neo aircraft in November.

With the latest deliveries, the low-cost carrier more than doubled the size of its all-Airbus fleet by more than 100 per cent in less than two years, increasing its A320neo aircraft by more than 73 per cent to 46 aircraft.

Almohanna said the airline has succeeded in doubling the size of its fleet by more than 100 per cent in less than two years.

flynas also signed an agreement with Airbus to buy 30 new A320neo aircraft as part of a 120-aircraft order with a value exceeding SAR32bn, with plans to increase the order book to 250.

The addition of the new aircraft is expected to support the carrier’s growth plans as it continues to expand its international routes and destinations network. Its fleet also has four A330 wide-body aircraft.

The airline connects more than 70 domestic and international destinations with more than 1500 weekly flights and has flown more than 60 million passengers since its launch in 2007.

flynas signed an MoU with Eve Air Mobility in November to explore the future of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations in Saudi Arabia. The two entities seek to start eVTOL operations in Riyadh and Jeddah by 2026.