EGYPT: Nesma Airlines

Nesma Airlines, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Nesma Group, is a flag carrier of two countries: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arabic Republic of Egypt.

Nesma Airlines first commercial flight was on 18 July 2010 from Hurghada to Ljubljana and the airline currently operates charter flights linking Egypt's most popular tourist spots to Europe and the Middle East mainly to Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Italy,Spain, Poland and France.

And to continue its success in the charter market, the airline started to operate scheduled flights to Saudi Arabia on the 24th of June 2011 to Hail, Tabuk and Taif.

On October 27, 2016, the airline launched domestic flight services within Saudi Arabia. Flights will operate out of the central hub at Hail Regional Airport to various locations in the Kingdom which currently includes Tabuk and Qaisumah. All flights will be flown on board the airline's ATR 72-600 aircraft.

Nesma Airline's scheduled flights include:-

Egypt
Cairo – Cairo International Airport
Alexandria – Borg El Arab Airport
Asyut – Assiut Airport

Saudi Arabia
Abha – Abha Regional Airport
Yanbu – Yanbu Airport
Buraidah – Qassim Airport
Ta'if – Ta’if Regional Airport
Tabuk – Tabuk Regional Airport
Jeddah – Jeddah Airport
Ha'il – Hail Airport
Jizan - Jizan Regional Airport
Ha'il – Hail Airport
Qaisumah - Al Qaisumah/Hafr Al Batin Airport
Tabuk – Tabuk Regional Airport

However the majority of the airline's current operations center around charter flights from Egyptian resorts to the following European countries:
- Armenia
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Macedonia
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Serbia
- Ireland
- United Kingdom

Nesma Airlines fleet consists of the 6 aircraft.
1 Airbus A319-100
3 Airbus A320-200
2 ATR 72-600

SAUDI ARABIA: Nesma Airlines Starts Flights To Northern Saudia

Saudi-Egyptian carrier Nesma Airlines has begun services from Hail, in the north of Saudi Arabia, as domestic competition in the country intensifies.

The desert kingdom’s regulator, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), has overseen the issue of licenses to several new airlines, including Nesma, in the past year. For years, traffic in the country has been largely monopolized by national carrier Saudia, with around 10% going to hybrid carrier flynas.

Foreign carriers have also noticeably increased services to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to win a part of the rapidly growing air travel market in the most populous of the Gulf states.

Nesma intends to use Hail as a hub to a network of eight smaller northern Saudi cities: Turaif, Qaisumah, Arar, Rafha, Aljouf, Tabuk, Qaseem and Madinah under the local equivalent of essential air service (EAS) contracts. Nesma also plans to start services to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the country’s main commercial center Jeddah and the oil-rich Eastern province city of Dammam.

Details of services to the last three cities will be announced in November.

Commenting on the start of Nesma’s services, GACA DG-northern airports Hamad Alkhemaish said the flights marked the start of a national project for hub airports. ATW understands flynas has been given authority to launch a similar series of EAS routes to smaller cities, based on a hub at Abha, in the far southwest of the country.

Nesma Airlines CEO Faisal Alturki said the airline would build up a fleet of six ATR 72-600 turboprops over the next three years. It also intended to acquire single examples of the Airbus A320 and A319 for services from Hail to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Two larger A321s are also planned to operate services between the latter three cities.

Partly because of the start of Nesma services, GACA is looking to expand Hail airport. A study is underway that will look at the existing terminal and expansion of the apron area to allow for more aircraft to be parked.

SAUDI ARABIA: SaudiGulf Airlines

SaudiGulf Airlines is a proposed start-up carrier planning to commence domestic services in Saudi Arabia on 01-Nov-2015 with a fleet of four Airbus A320 aircraft.

The airline was planning to launch in 1Q2015 but has encountered regulatory delays with Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation.

The airline reportedly intends to initially operate three to four times daily between Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah before expanding to Abha, Madinah, Qassim and Tabuk.

The carrier also plans to operate internationally to destinations in the Middle East and Africa.

The airline expects to take delivery of its first Bombardier CS300 aircraft in late 2015 or early 2016. SaudiGulf is owned by the Al Qahtani Group and will become the country's third domestic carrier, after Saudia and flynas.