Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing low-cost airline flyadeal is expanding operations from its recently set-up Madinah base with the launch of three domestic routes, effective March 1.
Announcing this, flydeal said this introduction of scheduled flights to Jazan on the Red Sea coast in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia; Qassim, known for its date farms, in the heart of the Kingdom; and Arar, an agricultural centre and capital of the Northern Borders Province, takes the number of domestic and international destinations operated non-stop from Madinah to 10.
The budget carrier already serves the domestic cities of Abha, Al Hofuf, Dammam, Riyadh and Tabuk, along with Cairo and Istanbul direct from Madinah’s Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport, it stated.
On the new launch, CEO Steven Greenway said: "Two months ago flyadeal established Madinah as our fourth operational base in Saudi Arabia to provide consumers with greater connectivity to and from the Holy City."
"We increased our capacity by 40 per cent and are now adding a further three routes to quickly grow to 10 domestic and international destinations from Madinah that reflects our commitment to offer more choice and diversity," noted Greenway.
"Given the importance of Madinah as the second holiest city in the Islamic world and key gateway for pilgrims, our expanded schedule supplements flyadeal’s dedicated year-round Umrah and upcoming Hajj flights from several countries direct to Madinah," he added.
The three new routes take flyadeal’s frequency up to 94 flights a week to and from Madinah. flyadeal operates an Airbus A320 featuring 186 all-Economy Class seats in a 3 – 3 configuration and spacious interiors on all its scheduled services, said the Saudi budget carrier in its statement.
The airline has rapidly developed into the Middle East’s fastest growing carrier operating its young fleet from bases in Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah and Dammam to more than 30 seasonal and year-round destinations across Saudi Arabia, and in the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and South Asia.
By 2030, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, flyadeal expects to triple its network to over 100 destinations and more than double its fleet to 100 aircraft, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
