AN, JEDDAH

Saudi Arabia’s low-cost airline Flynas on Friday launched its newest operation base at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The airline also inaugurated six destinations and routes, including two domestic flights to Abha and Tabuk, and four in the international category — to Dubai, Amman, Istanbul, and Ankara — to be operated alongside the other four existing destinations, from Madinah to Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Cairo.

It brings to 10 the total destinations that are now served by Flynas from the new operation base at Madinah.

Flynas, the leading low-cost carrier in Saudi Arabia, has now become the only airline with four bases across the Kingdom, in line with its expansion and growth plans and in parallel with the objectives of the Pilgrim Experience Program to facilitate access to the Two Holy Mosques, and the National Civil Aviation Strategy.

The strategy will enable national air carriers to contribute to connecting 250 international destinations to the Kingdom, as well as reaching 330 million passengers and attracting 100 million tourists annually by 2030.

Bander Al-Mohanna, CEO and managing director of Flynas, said: “Launching our newest operation base and inaugurating the new routes come in response to the high demand for Madinah, notably from pilgrims and visitors to the holy mosque.”

He added that more new destinations and routes will be announced in the future.

Al-Mohanna said: “Operating 10 routes from the new base as a start was made possible as a result of more than 100 percent upscaling of our all-Airbus fleet in less than two years, in line with the growth and expansion plan launched early last year under the slogan ‘We Connect the World to the Kingdom’.”

One of its key features was signing an agreement with Airbus for 30 new A320neo aircraft last June, as part of an order of 120 Airbus aircraft and approval to increase new orders to 250, he added.

Flynas connects more than 70 domestic and international destinations with more than 1,500 weekly flights and has flown more than 60 million passengers since its launch in 2007. It aims to reach 165 domestic and international destinations, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.