flynas (XY, Riyadh) is planning to open its fourth base at an unnamed airport in Saudi Arabia as the country attracts a growing number of visitors, Director of Network Planning Ben Burge said during the Routes Europe 2023 conference.
Burge did not disclose any further details about the base or its potential network, stating only that it is likely to launch by the end of 2023.
The Saudi low-cost carrier currently operates bases at Riyadh, Jeddah International, and Dammam, the three largest airports in Saudi Arabia. It schedules 70,470; 50,654; and 25,752 weekly departure seats from the airports, respectively, the ch-aviation capacities module shows. The next largest non-base Saudi airport in the carrier's network, Abha, accounts for 12,180 weekly scheduled seats.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows the airline operates thirteen A320-200s, thirty-two A320-200Ns, and three A330-300s. It has a further forty-one A320-200Ns, ten ACV!A321NXLs, and one A330-300 on order. The LCC has been expanding its network to underserved destinations thanks to the Saudi Air Connectivity Programme, a government-run incentive scheme to boost air connectivity to the country. flynas recently announced plans to connect Jeddah with Abuja, Bishkek, Osh International, and Dushanbe, as well as Madinah with Baghdad, all with support from the ACP.
Burge said that the airline was looking forward to returning to Ukraine, where it served Lviv and Kyiv Boryspil before the 2022 Russian invasion. He stressed that the routes were performing well right after the start of sales, driven by the outbound demand for travel to colder regions from Saudi Arabia.
