Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s low-cost carrier flynas is set to expand operations across its four main hubs — Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah, and Dammam — as part of an ambitious growth plan, according to a top official. 

In an interview with Al-Eqtisadiah, Waleed Ahmed, the company’s official spokesperson, said that flynas holds the largest aircraft order in the Kingdom and one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a total of 280 aircraft set to be received. 

This follows a major deal signed in July with Airbus to acquire 160 new aircraft, including 30 wide-body A330neo and 130 single-aisle jets across A320neo, A321neo, and A321LR models.

The airline has seen a sharp rise in passenger traffic, with volumes climbing from around 11 million in 2023 to more than 14.7 million in 2024, reflecting the low-cost carrier’s rapid expansion in line with Saudi Arabia’s push to position itself as a leading global hub for tourism and business. 

“These numbers reinforce the company’s role in supporting Vision 2030, which aims to increase the number of passengers to 330 million and attract more than 150 million international passengers by that year.” Ahmed said, as quoted by Al-Eqtisadiah. 

He also highlighted that, as part of its ambitious strategic plan, flynas has expanded its summer schedule by launching four new destinations for the first time: Krakow in Poland, Geneva in Switzerland, Milan in Italy, and Rize in Turkiye, in addition to its usual summer routes. 

Last week, flynas finalized its initial public offering at SR80 ($21) per share — the top of its indicated price range — following strong demand from both institutional and retail investors.

The pricing values the airline at an estimated market capitalization of SR13.6 billion at listing. 

The offering followed the company’s announcement last month of its intention to float 30 percent of its share capital on the Saudi Exchange, making flynas the first airline in the Kingdom to go public and the first Gulf airline IPO in nearly two decades.