Flynas, a low-cost airline in Saudi Arabia, has begun operating the world’s largest passenger aircraft, Airbus A380. It makes Flynas the first Saudi operator that will receive around 200,000 pilgrims from 17 countries.
Flynas has also recently received the first flights carrying Malaysian Hajj pilgrims from Kuala Lumpur at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Madinah.
Bandar Al-Muhanna, Flynas chief executive officer, expressed the company’s pride in serving Hajj pilgrims, stressing the airline’s endeavor to provide them with top facilities. This step also comes in line with Flynas’ strategy to provide the best services for pilgrims, which comes as an extension of the Kingdom’s overall efforts to take care of pilgrims.
Al-Muhanna pointed out that Flynas has leased 13 wide-body and various large-seat-capacity models, including the A380, B747, B767 and for the first time A330neo aircraft.
He highlighted how Flynas transported pilgrims and visitors on its fleet of Airbus 320 aircraft as per scheduled flights.
He added that pilgrims arriving on these flights will benefit from the Makkah Road initiative, which aims at completing passport procedures for pilgrims in their country to reduce their waiting time at passport control counters in the Kingdom.
Al-Muhanna said Flynas is aiming to transport around 200,000 pilgrims between arrival and departure stages from 17 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This comes following agreements Flynas signed with the governments of these countries.
Flynas recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus to purchase 20 A321XLR and A321LR aircraft with its unprecedented long-range operational performance of 8,700 km, or up to 11 flying hours, in addition to its operational efficiency and 30 percent lower fuel consumption than its precursor. This will allow Flynas to take better advantage during religious seasons such as Hajj and Umrah to realize its plan to transport around 5 million pilgrims annually, supporting the targets of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to increase the number of pilgrims to 30 million by 2030.
The airline recently won two Skytrax awards — one for the best low-cost airline in the Middle East for the third consecutive year and one for the best airline staff service in the Middle East.
