flyadeal, Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing low-cost airline, has announced Madinah as its fourth and newest base in the Kingdom.

Two aircraft will be permanently positioned at Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport from 1 January 2026.

flyadeal currently has operational bases in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

Domestic scheduled flights from Madinah will be launched to four cities across the Kingdom – the southwest coastal city of Jazan; Tabuk in the northwest; Al Hofuf in the country’s Eastern Province; and Abha in the southwestern mountainous region of Aseer province.

Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Istanbul will become the second international destination to be introduced direct from Madinah, with plans for further expansion beyond Saudia Arabia over the next few months.

The additional flights will increase flyadeal’s existing capacity from Madinah by 30 per cent to 84 scheduled domestic and international services a week.

flyadeal’s current Madinah operations cover domestic services to Dammam and Riyadh, plus international flights to the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The carrier also operates year-round Umrah services from several countries direct to Madinah, north of the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

Steven Greenway, flyadeal Chief Executive Officer, said: “With scale comes opportunities. flyadeal has progressively increased its fleet size to 43 which allows us to now position aircraft across principal cities including Madinah where passenger demand simply demands our resources to be spread out. Madinah was a natural addition as a base given its prominence as the second holiest city in the Islamic world that draws pilgrims from all parts of the globe throughout the year.”

Almost 70 per cent of flyadeal’s 43-strong narrowbody fleet of Airbus A320s is based at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh; 11 aircraft are positioned at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah; and five at Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport.

Abdulaziz Bahri, flyadeal Chief Operating Officer, added: “The importance of Madinah cannot be underestimated. Our dedicated capacity will support continued growth in outbound travel and traditional year-round inbound religious movements. With increased frequencies comes greater choice so my operations team looks forward to building a highly sustainable set-up which can only go from strength to strength as we take delivery of more aircraft in the coming months and years.” -TradeArabia News Service