RIYADH: In a bid to further advance Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector, the Kingdom’s budget airline flynas has inaugurated direct flights connecting Jeddah and Osh, the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan.
The newly established route, operating from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah to Osh International Airport, encompasses three weekly flights each on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as outlined in an official statement.
This strategic route was launched in collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s Air Connectivity Program and flynas’ expansion plans, noted the statement.
The Air Connectivity Program, introduced in 2021, aims to bolster the Kingdom’s tourism sector growth by enhancing air connectivity and developing existing and potential air routes.
Concurrently, flynas intends to expand its reach by serving a total of 165 domestic and international destinations, aligning with the objectives of Vision 2030, a blueprint aiming to establish Saudi Arabia as a global tourism destination.
Presently, flynas operates more than 70 domestic and international routes, encompassing 1,500 weekly flights.
The press statement further disclosed that flynas intends to broaden its operations from Jeddah to Kyrgyzstan, with plans to introduce flights to the capital city, Bishkek, by October.
The collaborative effort between flynas and the Air Connectivity Program is expected to contribute to Saudi Arabia’s National Tourism Strategy, targeting 100 million visitors by 2030 and increasing the tourism sector’s contribution to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product to over 10 percent.
Earlier in August, flynas introduced direct weekly flights linking Jeddah and Casablanca, Morocco.
In June, flynas inked a $3.73 billion deal with Airbus to purchase 30 aircraft during the Paris Air Show, with plans to expand its long-haul destinations across its route network. This agreement included 10 A321XLRs, aimed at expanding flynas’ long-haul destinations, in addition to its existing fleet of 21 A320neos, 13 A320ceos, and four A330-300s.
Furthermore, flynas inked a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Investment Recycling Co. this month to promote integrated waste management practices. This partnership is poised to facilitate sustainability-driven collaboration for an advanced circular economy.
Founded in 2007, flynas has transported over 60 million passengers to date, according to the airline’s data.
