Latest news with #Flyadeal
Skift
3 days ago
- Business
- Skift
Saudi Low-Cost Carrier Flynas Launches IPO, But Israel-Iran Conflict Weighs on Market
Flynas is the first Middle Eastern airline to go public in nearly two decades — but its timing is far from ideal. Renewed regional tensions just days before the debut have caused regional airline stocks to slip. Flynas, Saudi Arabia's budget carrier, made its IPO debut Wednesday, but growing tensions between Israel and Iran weighed on regional markets and local airline stocks. Flynas had priced its offering at 80 riyals ($21.38) a share, giving the low-cost airline a valuation of 13.7 billion riyals ($3.7 billion). The shares initially dropped as much as 13% Wednesday and trading was briefly halted twice within the first 20 minutes of the session. By midday, shares were down but had recovered much of the loss. "Given how the situation changed this week with escalating geopolitical crisis and closure of air space and regional flight disruption, it may have been prudent to delay the listing until things settled," wrote Nishit Lakhotia, head of research at Bahrain's Sico Bank, on LinkedIn. The UAE's Air Arabia is down more than 3% this week, while Kuwait's Jazeera Airways tumbled as much as 4.2% on Wednesday, following its worst drop since 2020 earlier in the week. Despite the dip, the Flynas IPO was the largest in the Middle East so far this year and marked the first Gulf airline to go public in nearly two decades after Air Arabia in 2007. The IPO and Flynas Expansion The total size of the IPO is $1.1 billion, the company said when it announced the IPO price, and proceeds will be used to support fleet expansion, extend its network, and fund general corporate activities. In February, Flynas announced it would be receiving more than 100 Airbus aircraft over the next five years, with the expected growth of its fleet to more than 160 aircraft by the end of 2030. It has orders for 280 aircraft worth over 161 billion Riyals ($42.9 billion). In May, Flynas CEO Bander Al-Muhanna said the IPO would be "a strategic step that will accelerate the execution of our growth ambitions and solidify our position as the leading low-cost carrier for short- and medium-haul flights across the Middle East and North Africa by 2030." Flynas connects more than 70 domestic and international destinations with more than 1,500 weekly flights. For the first nine months of last year, it served 10.9 million passengers, according to its IPO prospectus. The airline aims to reach 165 domestic and international destinations, in line with the country's Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia will soon have four major airlines: Saudia, Flynas, Flyadeal, and Riyadh Air. Saudia and Riyadh Air are long-haul national carriers, while Flynas and Flyadeal are budget, short- and medium-haul. Riyadh Air hasn't launched yet, but its first flight is expected by the end of the year and it targets 100 million passengers by 2030. Saudia had 20 million passengers last year and Flyadeal had 7.9 million. Currently, the Saudia routes between Riyadh and Dubai are especially popular as business people move between the two cities. During the Skift Travel Podcast, Almosafer CEO Muzzammil Ahussain said: 'Given the demand, Riyadh to Dubai is one of the most expensive and profitable routes in the world. Especially the business class, given the amount of trade between the two countries. The business travel going on… It's sometimes $4,000-$5,000 for a one-hour business class flight.' He added: 'Investments in new airports, new airlines, [demand] is only going to increase.' Ahussain said he's hoping for an Almosafer IPO in the next 12 to 18 months. What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
Skift
12-06-2025
- Business
- Skift
Flyadeal CEO on Its Unconventional Playbook for Scaling the Saudi Airline
Saudi Arabia's Flyadeal is surely rewriting the low-cost rulebook. From widebody orders to a rare partnership with Cebu Pacific, this domestic darling is now eyeing global scale, all without losing sight of its lean, point-to-point roots. Flyadeal, the budget subsidiary of Saudi Arabian national carrier Saudia, is keen to reshape what it means to be an LCC in the Middle East. By 2030, flyadeal plans to triple its fleet size to over 100 aircraft and also increase its network three-fold to more than 100 destinations. Two weeks ago, Flyadeal and Cebu Pacific signed a deal to wet-lease two Cebu Pacific A320s for Saudi Arabia's busy summer season. In return, Cebu Pacific may take Flyadeal A320s for Southeast Asia's winter peak. This kind of reciprocal wet-leasing arrangement is rare in low-cost aviation. CEO Steven Greenway references the Sunwing-TUI model from Canada and Europe as a blueprint: 'They were one of the very few to do it… So that's the model I sort of see as my Northern Light.' The Flyadeal-Cebu Pacific partnership also opens doors to collaboration in maintenance, engineering, and training. But for now, both carriers are focused on executing the summer operation successfully before expanding the scope. 'I'd love to have 10 aircraft of Cebu Pacific in my fleet by next year,' said Greenway. Flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway. Widebody Order and Long-Haul Ambitions Flyadeal's decision to order 10 Airbus A330neo widebodies, with 10 more on option, is a clear signal that it's ready to compete on longer routes. The airline has already been operating wet-leased widebodies on routes from Europe to Africa and Asia, which has helped it prepare operationally. 'We understand the economics, we understand the operation… if it's our own aircraft, our profitability margins will be far, far superior,' said Greenway. The new aircraft will carry 420-440 passengers each, with a focus on volume-driven markets such as pilgrim traffic and labor flows into Saudi Arabia. Greenway also stressed crew and fleet commonality to keep training and operational costs low: 'Our Airbus aircraft are the same… we can get a pilot on a 320 and move over to a 330 with 10 days training.' The long-haul plan aligns closely with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. While Greenway is careful to note there's no formal government directive for flyadeal, he says the environment is supportive: 'It's more like a carrot approach — how can we help you, how can we build this together?' Flyadeal to Commence Flights to Syria One of flyadeal's boldest steps this year could be its planned entry into Syria, with flights potentially launching as soon as July. As diplomatic and trade barriers begin to ease, the airline is positioning this move as both a humanitarian response and a smart business decision. 'There are 2 million Syrians, who haven't been able to go home because of the war, and that's unacceptable,' said Greenway. 'We want to be part of the reconstruction effort for Syria. If we don't start going in, someone else will.' Most international carriers pulled out of Syria during the civil war, which began in 2012. Before the conflict, more than a dozen global airlines flew to Damascus. But that changed with years of unrest and sanctions. Last month, the U.S. government relaxed sanctions on Syria following President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia. Qatar Airways resumed flights to Damascus earlier this year. Turkish Airlines followed shortly after, and Emirates plans to restart service from mid-July. With its large domestic network and narrowbody fleet, flyadeal sees an opening. According to Greenway, Flyadeal's A320s can directly connect Saudi Arabia with secondary Syrian cities that larger carriers often overlook. 'One way of rebuilding the country, at least part of it, is providing connectivity into the country,' Greenway said. How Flyadeal Is Building for Scale While flyadeal is growing fast, it's doing so with discipline, according to its CEO. 'Our fleet only grew 19% yet our number of flights on a daily basis grew 54%,' Greenway explained. 'We're squeezing more out of our assets every day. Utilization is going up. Unit cost is going down.' That efficiency is driven by investments in back-end systems, from crew rostering to enterprise resource planning, geared to support long-haul operations and future growth. Flyadeal's ambition isn't to become a legacy-style global carrier, but rather a regional carrier that extends its reach through targeted international connections. 'We'll still be the point-to-point for a lot of stuff, particularly domestically,' said Greenway. 'But internationally, a lot of it will be connecting — either onto us or onto Saudia (the parent airline).' That means more secondary city routes, more synergy with Saudia's hubs, and using long-haul aircraft not just for tourism, but also for vital connectivity across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway at Skift Global Forum East 2024
Arab News
03-06-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudia's budget carrier Flyadeal to launch flights to India next year
NEW DELHI: Saudi budget carrier Flyadeal is planning to launch flights from the Kingdom to India next year, its CEO said, as industry leaders gathered in New Delhi for the International Air Transport Association's annual summit. Established in 2017, Flyadeal is a subsidiary of the Saudi national flag carrier, Saudia. Headquartered in Jeddah, the airline primarily serves domestic routes and has, over the past few years, expanded to international destinations in the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. It currently reaches some 35 destinations. Another five or six will be added in India soon. 'We're planning to launch flights from the Kingdom to India next year,' Flyadeal's CEO Steven Greenway told Arab News on the sidelines of the IATA meeting on Monday. 'We're talking about five to six (destinations) in our first year alone — so quite a lot, and mostly secondary cities ... Our sister carrier Saudia will remain in Delhi and Mumbai. We're looking at the secondary cities.' While he expects the airline's upcoming India operations to address mostly labor traffic, tourists are a growing group too, as Saudi Arabia is heavily investing in tourist destinations. In the past few years the Kingdom has seen significant developments at its eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, eco-friendly and luxury resorts on the Red Sea coastline, and entertainment and sports complexes. With their vast promotion, also involving Bollywood stars, more and more Indians are willing to visit Riyadh, Jeddah, or AlUla. 'You've got a country which is now open for business, which is now deploying key strategic initiatives that are going online — the Red Sea resorts and so forth. That will bring tourism,' Greenway said. 'I would like to think that we could probably have anything between 5 and 10 percent of our total traffic coming from India over the next couple of years.' Tourism is booming in Saudi Arabia under the Vision 2030 diversification plan, with the sector expected to contribute 10 percent of the gross domestic product. The Saudi Tourism Authority announced last year that it expected India to become its key inbound market, with 7.5 million Indian travelers visiting the Kingdom by 2030.
Argaam
30-05-2025
- Business
- Argaam
GACA issues classification for air carriers, airports in April 2025
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) issued the index for the classification of air transport services providers and airports based on the number of complaints filed by travelers to the authority in April 2025. The total number of complaints submitted by passengers against airlines stood at 1,270. The least complaints were filed against flynas with 22 complaints per 100,000 passengers. The state-run airline recorded a timely complaint-handling rate of 100%. Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) ranked second, with 23 complaints and a closure rate of 99%. Meanwhile, Flyadeal came third, with 38 complaints per 100,000 passengers, reporting a timely complaint closure rate of 100%. The most frequent complaints for April were about tickets, followed by luggage and passenger services. Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah reported the lowest number of complaints, recording two or 0.2% per 100,000 passengers, among international airports that receive over six million passengers annually, with a timely complaint closure rate of 100%. For international airports that receive less than six million passengers annually, Abha International Airport reported the lowest complaints, at a rate of 1% per 100,000 passengers. Among domestic airports, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Airport was the least airport complained about, at a rate of 3% per 100,000 passengers with a timely complaint-handling rate of 100%. GACA stated that the monthly index is developed to inform travelers about service quality, promote transparency, and encourage healthy competition in the aviation sector.
Travel Daily News
29-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Daily News
Saudia transformation drives global growth, innovation, and Vision 2030 success
Saudia transformation powers its global expansion, digital innovation, and alignment with Vision 2030, positioning the airline as a key player reshaping Saudi Arabia's aviation and tourism future. Saudia transformation is reshaping the aviation sector, aligning the airline with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and positioning it as a key global competitor. Speaking at Arabian Travel Market 2025 in Dubai, Arved Von Zur Muehlen, Chief Commercial Officer of Saudia, detailed how the airline's four-year transformation has overhauled its people, processes, technology, fleet, and product strategy. Saudia has ambitious growth targets: expanding from its current fleet of 148 aircraft by an additional 128 in the coming years. This includes major aircraft orders, such as A330neos for Flyadeal, and a growing route network across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Saudi Arabia's robust domestic market of 28 airports. Von Zur Muehlen emphasized that Saudia transformation directly supports the national goal of welcoming 30 million Umrah and Hajj visitors and 130 million tourists, making Saudia the 'wings of the vision' connecting Saudi Arabia to the world. A core element of Saudia transformation is digital innovation. With a young, tech-savvy Saudi population and a digitally advanced government, travelers expect seamless digital interactions. Von Zur Muehlen outlined plans to advance beyond conventional apps, aiming for AI-powered travel companions that can manage personalized bookings and services. Saudia is also rolling out next-generation onboard Wi-Fi, launching new international lounges like its Heathrow flagship, and strengthening global partnerships through SkyTeam and code-shared routes, including extended reach into the US and Caribbean via Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Saudia's efforts extend beyond fleet and network. The airline has advanced from 60th to second place globally in punctuality and recently introduced a refreshed, modernized brand identity. New services, such as body-cooling technology for Hajj and Umrah travelers, highlight Saudia's proactive approach to testing and implementing innovations that enhance the guest experience. For travel and hospitality professionals, Saudia's evolution offers a compelling case study in government-aligned strategy, rapid technological adoption, and competitive resilience. As Saudia accelerates its global ambitions, it is positioned to serve not only as a national carrier but as a powerful connector between Saudi Arabia and the international travel landscape.
