Tuesday 24 April 2018

SAUDI ARABIA: Flynas Signs $6.3bn Maintenance And Service Deal For New Fleet

Saudi low-cost airline flynas has signed a $6.3 billion deal with DFM International to acquire new engines for its fleet.

Flynas’ agreement includes the acquiring of LEAP-1A engines to power the incoming fleet of 80 A320-neo aircraft ordered by flynas, scheduled to be delivered from 2018 onwards.

The agreement also comprises an associated long-term maintenance and service agreement for the A320 new aircraft fleet with CFM.

Ayed Al Jeaid, chairman of Flynas Company said It is highly gratifying to come into partnership with CFM in efforts to continue our strategic development.

CFM’s proven success and performance over the years, comes as an essential component of our agreement with Airbus to purchase 80 confirmed order and 40 optional of A320-neo aircraft.

Our ambitious vision for growth and expansion will be supported by this partnership and further enable our plans to push boundaries as the leading low cost carrier in the Middle East and the region.

Bander Al Mohanna, CEO, Flynas Company added, Equipping our incoming A320neo fleet with LEAP-1A26 engines offers incomparable efficiency and a low-cost structure for operating in environments with high temperatures in the region.

This partnership not only gives us the confidence in continuing to provide the best on time services to our guests but also enables us to strengthen our offerings domestically and internationally.

It is an honour to extend our partnership with Flynas by providing the LEAP-1A engine, said Philippe Couteaux, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Safran/CFM International.

We look forward to bringing them all the benefits of the advanced LEAP engine to its fleet as part of the airline’s continuous growth in the Middle East.

Flynas’ rapid growth saw it carry over 6.4 million passengers in 2017, a 17 percent annual increase since 2010.

Established in 2007, flynas operates over 1,100 flights weekly to 17 domestic destinations and 53 international destinations.

flynas formerly Nas Air, is a domestic and international low-cost airline based in Saudi Arabia, the country's first budget airline. The company's head office is located Riyadh.

Saudi Arabian Airlines was the only airline in the country until 2006, when budget carriers Nas Air and Sama Airlines got their licenses from the government.

Nas Air was founded in 2007. Operations started in February that year. In late 2007, Nas Air firmed up an order for the acquisition of 20 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family.

The company changed its name from Nasair to Flynas in November 2013.

The CEO position is held by Paul Byrne. Byrne was appointed in November 2014 and succeeded Raja Azmi, who had replaced Francois Boutellier in June 2013.

As of October 2014, Flynas was owned in its majority by National Airline Services Holding (63%); the balance was held by Kingdom Holding.

Assiut and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt became served by the carrier for the first time in 2009, with flights to the latter initially operated on a seasonal basis.

In 2011, the airline started services to three cities in Turkey: Adana, Antakya and Istanbul.

Same year, Lahore in Pakistan became the second city served in the country, after Karachi. In February 2013, flights to Yanbu from Dammam were launched.

Also that month, the airline started flying from Dammam to Khartoum, with the Sudanese capital becoming the first international destination ever to be linked to the Saudi city.

In February 2014, Flynas introduced its Global Flight Routes program, aimed at offering affordable rates to passengers for flights between Jeddah and points in Africa, Asia and Europe, and at carrying religious tourists to Saudi Arabia.

In March 2014, Flynas incorporated the first of three Airbus A330s the carrier would lease from Portugal's Hi Fly.

These aircraft, including both the –200 and the –300 models, would be used to start long-haul services. The airline also planned to add the Airbus A350 to its fleet.

Flynas became the first low-cost carrier to serve the Saudi Arabia-UK market when it launched the Jeddah–London Gatwick service, its first European long-haul route, in April 2014.

Medium-haul routes to Karachi and Lahore were also planned, along with long-haul services to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Casablanca, Manchester and Islamabad.

Flights to Iran were also due to commence by the same time. Manchester became the airline's second destination in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2014.

Cairo was made part of the route network in June 2014, making the Egyptian capital the carrier's seventh destination in the country.

The London-Gatwick–Riyadh sector would also be served from 27 July the same year.

A month later, it was informed that services to Manchester would be discontinued starting August 2014, just after three months of operations.

That month, the Indian market was expected to be served for the first time with flights to Hyderabad, followed by Calicut in September 2014.

Plans were also to serve France next as well as China, Philippines, Nigeria and South Africa later on.

Flynas also expected to serve the US market in 2015. Manchester was removed from the carrier's list of destinations in early August 2014.

In October 2014, Al-Qassim was incorporated to the route network. Also that month, the airline announced the cancellation of most of its long- and mid-haul services owing to poor performance.

At April 2015, Flynas' three top domestic routes in terms of available seats were Jeddah (JED)–Riyadh (RUH), Dammam (DMM)–RUH and JED–DMM. The carrier also performs Hajj services.

A codeshare agreement with Etihad that dates back to 2012 sees Flynas placing its code on a number of flights operated by Etihad that radiate from Abu Dhabi.

In May 2016 the airline signed a codeshare agreement with Pegasus Airlines.

Flynas fleet consists of the following aircraft:

- Airbus A319-100 - 02

- Airbus A320-200 - 29

- Total - 31

Orders

- Airbus A320neo - 80



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