Khalid Tawalbeh
Doha
With the opening of its office in Doha on Monday, Flynas, a Saudi Arabia-based airline and the largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East, is set to provide cheap and seamless flight services to Qatar residents.
The airline was the first low-cost carrier to connect the two friendly nations by operating daily flights between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
To celebrate the opening of the office, Flynas held a press conference and a gala dinner in Doha on Monday in the presence of Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Qatar HH Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan Al Saud and officials of Qatar Tourism and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.
Speaking to Qatar Tribune on the sidelines of the ceremony, the Saudi ambassador to Qatar said opening of the Flynas office in Doha is an evidence of the directions of Saudi Arabia in the next stage of economic expansion in the region, especially in the aviation industry and tourism sector.
He said, “Qatari-Saudi relations are close and historical, especially in investment and business field. We expect further cooperation in many economic projects to support and strengthen our relations.”
Flynas’s Vice-President for International Sales Abdulilah Aleadi said that Flynas was the first low-cost carrier to connect Saudi Arabia and Qatar with the operation of daily flights in both directions between Doha, Riyadh and Jeddah, as part of the expansion strategy launched by Flynas early last year under the slogan ‘Connecting the World with the Kingdom’ and in line with the objectives of the Civil Aviation Strategy to reach 330 million passengers and increase the number of international destinations connected to the Kingdom to more than 250 destinations by 2030.
“Flynas began operating up to six flights a day from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah to Doha, which provided its passengers with multiple options with the start of the World Cup hosted by Qatar,” he said.
The Saudi carrier announced a double-digit annual growth in operation and performance in 2022, with an increase in the number of passengers by 91 percent to 8.7 million, flights by 45 percent to 66,000 and seat capacity by 46 percent, in addition to the launch of 16 destinations with an increase in the fleet to 43 aircraft.
Flynas’ success has been crowned with many international awards, including the ‘Skytrax’ global award in 2022 ranking among the top 10 low-cost airlines in the world for the fifth year in a row, which is the highest award given in the aviation sector at the global level since its launch in 1999, in addition to the ‘Best low-cost airline in the Middle East’ award in 2022, from the World Travel Awards Festival for the eighth year in a row.
Flynas also received the highest rating, coming in the four-star category, the highest category for low-cost aviation, in an assessment conducted by the non-profit organisation APEX, which is one of the largest international airline associations, as the rating included 600 airlines of various categories around the world.
