Flyadeal, Saudi Arabia’s low-cost airline, has launched a new service to Tabuk with scheduled daily flights from Jeddah and Riyadh.

Tabuk is the seventh destination in flyadeal’s growing domestic network, and is part of the airline’s plan to fly to all major cities in the kingdom.

The new flights are expected to serve the growing demand for affordable air travel in the kingdom. The launch of the new destination is also timed to coincide with the start of the summer holiday season, which sees a natural increase in travel. Flyadeal’s new daily service from Jeddah and Riyadh will bring low fares travel to a region renowned for its excellent agricultural terrain, historical richness, and coastal charm.

The first flight to Tabuk took off on May 3 from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. Upon landing at Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, the aircraft -named “Al-Anqa” - was greeted with the customary water cannon salute.

A celebratory event was held at the arrival hall in the presence of the chairman of flyadeal and director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation, Eng Saleh bin Nasser Al- Jasser; the director of Tabuk Airport; Adel Abdulqader Aalouh; CEO of flyadeal, Con Korfiatis; airport officials; staff; and members of the press. The guests were treated to a performance by local children showcasing the region’s heritage. Subsequently, a ceremonial cake was cut and commemorative gifts were exchanged.

Al-Jasser stressed the importance of Tabuk city as one of the key destinations in the kingdom, noting its touristic, economic and historical status. He further noted that Tabuk is currently witnessing a transformation of mammoth proportions especially since it’s the de facto gateway to NEOM. With many ambitious projects underway, Tabuk is poised to become an economic hotspot and a global investment destination.

Aalouh congratulated flyadeal for becoming the fourth national operator to operate flights to Tabuk airport. He added that the services provided by flyadeal and other airlines will contribute to a healthy competitive landscape and support travel, tourism and the economic development of the region.

Korfiatis said: “The addition of Tabuk to our continually expanding network is an important step in the company’s progress towards bringing unprecedented low fares to all major regions of the kingdom. Today, in just over seven months of operations, our network covers all regions in Saudi Arabia.”

In addition, Korfiatis announced that special fares for the new destination start as low as SR108 ($28.7) for Jeddah-Tabuk and SR198 ($52.7) for Riyadh-Tabuk. He added: “By booking on our website or through our iOS or Android mobile app, customers can conveniently plan their travel to Tabuk. The recent addition of Sadad payment method also offers more flexible payment options for customers across the network – especially our new customers flying to and from Tabuk.”

Flyadeal currently operates seven brand-new A320 aircraft and flies daily to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Qassim, Jazan, and Abha. - TradeArabia News Service