Saudi budget carrier flynas has signed a firm order for 10 Airbus A321XLRs at the 2019 Dubai Airshow.

The agreement was signed by Bandar Almohanna, flynas chief executive officer and Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer.

Almohanna said: “Flynas is pleased to announce a firm order of 10 A321XLR, which will increase the total number of its firm order of A320 family aircraft type to 90 aircraft at list price worth $10 billion."

"These 10 XLRs will expand the reach of flynas network to much farther destinations with support of significantly longer flying range compared to the existing A320neo order, and therefore would help to add further support to the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia in increasing the number of religious pilgrims to 4 times the current level. Flynas has been the first airline to launch A320neo in Saudi Arabia, with already four aircraft delivered in last 12 months," he added.

This new aircraft with impressive fuel savings and long flying range has already been a game-changer for Flynas - which further helped it win the Skytrax award for the Best Low Cost Airline in the Middle East Region third time in a row - in addition to winning the Best Airline Staff award in the region for the first time.

Almohanna added: “Flynas is eager to add more long-range aircraft in the future to further expand its wings in the international operations. We express our gratitude to everyone at Airbus and all suppliers for parts and services for their hard work and dedication in supporting flynas in this long and successful journey - and we look forward to making our relationship stronger."

In 2018, the airline transported more than 6.6 million passengers on 60,000 domestic and international flights. The airline is currently operating over 1,200 flights weekly to 17 domestic destinations and 53 international destinations.

The A321XLR is the next evolutionary step from the A321LR which responds to market needs for even more range and payload, creating more value for the airlines. The aircraft will deliver an unprecedented Xtra Long Range of up to 4,700nm – with 30 per cent lower fuel consumption per seat, compared with previous-generation competitor jets.

At the end of October 2019, the A320neo Family had accumulated more than 7,000 firm orders from over 110 customers worldwide. - TradeArabia News Service