Bander Almohanna: flynas Aims to Sign Orders Buying Up To 250 New Aircraft in 2024
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – January 10, 2024: flynas, the national air carrier and the leading low-cost airline, aims to sign orders to purchase up to 250 new aircraft during the year 2024 and plans to admit a new batch to the Future Pilots Program to employ 100 Saudi pilots, said Bander Almohanna, flynas CEO and Managing Director during a discussion panel entitled "Coordinated Aerial Logistics Strategy for Hajj and Umrah Operations" at the Conference and Exhibition of Hajj and Umrah Services 2024 "Expo Hajj." In line with the expansion of flynas operations to serve pilgrims and Umrah performers, the national carrier participated as the Aviation Partner for the second year in a row in the "Expo Hajj," whose edition this year is held in Jeddah Superdome from 8-11 January. The Expo Hajj is organized by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in partnership with the Pilgrims Experience Program, one of the Saudi Vision 2030 programs, in the presence of distinguished decision-makers, experts, academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs who shared their expertise and visions on guaranteeing the comfort of the guests of AL Rahman by upgrading the level of Hajj and Umrah services. The exhibition accompanying the conference is the largest of its kind in the world. It focuses on offering state-of-the-art services and solutions to enhance the services provided to pilgrims, and the event serves as a gateway to the sector for entrepreneurs, investors, and those aiming to advance the Hajj and Umrah sectors. The conference agenda included several sessions and workshops to discuss many topics, such as future visions for the development of holy cities and shrines, preserving the rights of pilgrims, and integrating with the Hajj and Umrah systems, in addition to several workshops. Hajj and Umrah is a very strategic sector for flynas, and the leading LCC has flown more than 100,000 pilgrims from more than 13 countries during the last Hajj season of 1444 AH (2023), bringing the total number of pilgrims and Umrah performers carried by flynas to more than two million since its launch in 2007. Gearing up for the next Hajj season, flynas is working to harness the increase in its operational capabilities and the size of its fleet, including the addition of four wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft. flynas is keen to ensure that its plans for growth and expansion are in line with the objectives of the Pilgrims Experience Program (PEP) to facilitate access to the Two Holy Mosques and the National Civil Aviation Strategy to enable national air carriers to contribute to connecting KSA with 250 International destinations and to accommodate 330 million passengers and to host 100 million tourists yearly by 2030. flynas participated in last year's edition of the Hajj Expo as the Aviation Partner and was the platinum sponsor in the 2022 edition. The success of flynas was recognized with many international awards, including Skytrax International Award as the Best Low-cost Airline in the Middle East in 2023 for the sixth time in a row and the 4th Best LCC worldwide. It is the highest worldwide award in the aviation sector since its launch in 1999. Meanwhile, flynas won the Best Low-cost Airline Award in the Middle East from the World Travel Awards in 2023 for the ninth year in a row.