Saudi airline flynas in talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy more jets
Saudi budget airline flynas is in negotiations with both Boeing and its current supplier Airbus to buy aircraft worth $13 billion to $15 billion, Chief Executive Bander al-Mohanna told Al Arabiya in an interview published on Monday.
The carrier has increased the number of planned new orders to 250 aircraft and also plans to increase the number of destinations to 165 from 70, al-Mohanna was reported saying.
The acceleration in the airline’s growth plans, which coincides with ambitions by Saudi Arabia to develop its airline industry and become a hub for tourism, was first reported by Bloomberg.
Flynas, part-owned by the investment firm of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, was launched as Nas Air in 2007 with an all-Airbus fleet.
The Riyadh-based discount carrier, which competes with state-owned Saudi carrier flyadeal, ordered 80 A320neo-family jets in 2017, with purchasing options for 40 more.
In November, the airline’s chief executive said flynas was in talks to exercise some or all of the 40 options, and industry sources said it had already reached an agreement that would see some of those extra planes include the long-range A321XLR model.
As of the end of February, flynas operated a partially leased fleet of 39 Airbus jets, with further 76 yet to be delivered from the manufacturer, and a recent agreement with Airbus to purchase 120 new with a mix of A320neo and A321neoXLR aircraft. According to Airbus data:
- A320-200 operating 19
- A320neo operating 20, ordered 67
- A321XLR ordered 10
The aircraft offer a typical low-cost seating configuration on its jets: Premium Class and Economy Class.