Gulf LCCs' Success Shows Middle East Passengers Like A Bargain

As in most areas of the globe, LCCs are expanding steadily in Saudi Arabia. The country has two: flyadeal, a subsidiary of the Saudia group of companies, and privately owned flynas.

Although observers initially thought LCCs would struggle to gain traction in the Gulf because consumers would equate low fares with poor quality, their rapid growth has shown that the public in the oil-rich states likes a bargain as much as their European and North American counterparts.

“Over the summer, the flights have been full, domestically and internationally,” flyadeal CEO Con Korfiatis said. “People have been wanting to get away. We put on all the flights we could with the aircraft we have.”

Flyadeal, founded in 2017, had to postpone its expansion to international destinations as it sought to keep up with booming domestic demand. However, it is now expanding steadily overseas. From having only Dubai and Kuwait on its international route map at the start of 2022, it has since added Baku, Tbilisi, Sharm El Sheikh, Cairo and Khartoum and plans to add three more destinations by the end of the year.

More international destinations will be added in 2023, but Korfiatis made the point that there are still some domestic airports into which flyadeal does not yet operate.

Flyadeal now has a 26-strong fleet: 11 Airbus A320ceos and 15 A320neos. The total will rise to more than 30 in the next several years and the airline is looking at increasing the number of options it holds.

Korfiatis also noted that airline expansion in the kingdom is driving a need for more support facilities, with several recent announcements on expanding the aviation technical skills sector.

“The need for talent is going to grow massively,” he said.

LCC flynas is also expanding. It has a current order book of 120 A320neo family aircraft, including 20 A321XLR extra long-range models, and the company’s board this year agreed to increase it to 250 new aircraft.

“The aviation market is expanding and we believe the industry has a bright future,” flynas Group CEO Bandar Al-Mohanna said. “The strategic location of Saudi Arabia and the prospects  opened by the Saudi Vision 2030 have created great opportunities for growth and expansion of the air transport sector … and that was taken into consideration in our strategic expansion plan launched early this year.

“Since the beginning of 2022, we announced launching and relaunching new international destinations as we plan to fly to 165 destinations, up from more than 70 currently.”