Saudi Arabian Airlines was the only airline in the country when budget carriers Nas Air and
Sama Airlines got their licenses from the
government.[9]Nas Air was founded in 2007.[10] Operations started in 25 February that year.[9] In late 2007, Nas Air firmed up an order for the acquisition of 20 aircraft of the
Airbus A320 family.[11]
The company changed its name from Nas Air to Flynas in November 2013.[12][13]
In January 2017, Flynas signed an agreement to order 80
Airbus A320neo family with deliveries scheduled from 2018 to 2026.[14] In November 2018, Flynas took delivery of the first Airbus A320neo family aircraft.[14] In June 2023, Flynas ordered 30 Airbus A320neos, taking the airline's total order with Airbus to 120 A320neo aircraft, including 10 A321XLRs.[15] In July 2017, the flynas application on smart devices, iPhone and
Android, achieved one million downloads of the application by users.[16]
As of September 2023[update], Flynas served 54 destinations across 99 routes; the airline has
Riyadh,
Jeddah,
Dammam, and
Medinah as operating bases.[17]
Assiut and
Sharm el Sheikh in
Egypt initial service by the carrier began in 2009, with flights to the latter initially operated on a seasonal basis.[18] In 2011, the airline started services to three cities in Turkey:
Adana,
Antakya and
Istanbul.[19] Also that year,
Lahore in
Pakistan became the second city served in the country, after
Karachi.[20] In February 2013, flights to
Yanbu from
Dammam were launched. Also that month, the airline started flying from Dammam to
Khartoum, with the
Sudanese capital becoming the airline's first international destination to be linked to the Saudi city.[21]
In February 2014, Flynas introduced its Global Flight Routes program, aimed at offering affordable rates to passengers for flights between Jeddah and points in Africa, Asia and Europe,[22] and at carrying religious tourists to Saudi Arabia.[23] In March 2014,[24] Flynas incorporated the first of three
Airbus A330s the carrier would lease from Portugal'sHi Fly. These aircraft, including both the
–200 and the
–300 models, would be used to start long-haul services.[25] The airline also planned to add the
Airbus A350 to its fleet.[26]
Flynas became the first low-cost carrier to serve the Saudi Arabia-
UK market when it launched the
Jeddah–
London Gatwick service, its first European long-haul route, in April 2014.[27] Medium-haul routes to
Karachi and
Lahore were also planned, along with long-haul services to
Jakarta,
Kuala Lumpur,
Casablanca,
Manchester and
Islamabad.[28] Flights to
Iran were also due to commence by the same time.[29] Manchester became the airline's second destination in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2014.[30][31]Cairo was made part of the route network in June 2014, making the Egyptian capital the carrier's seventh destination in the country.[32] The London-Gatwick–Riyadh sector would also be served from 27 July the same year.[33] A month later, it was informed that services to Manchester would be discontinued starting August 2014, just after three months of operations.[34][35] That month, the Indian market was expected to be served for the first time with flights to
Hyderabad, followed by
Calicut in September 2014.[36] Plans were also to serve
France next as well as
China,
Philippines,
Nigeria and
South Africa later on.[26] Flynas also expected to serve the
US market in 2015.[37] However, Manchester was removed from the carrier's list of destinations in early August 2014,[38] and in October the same year the airline announced the cancellation of most of its long- and mid-haul services owing to poor performance.[23][39][40] Also in October 2014,
Al-Qassim was incorporated to the route network.[41]
At April 2015[update], Flynas' three top domestic routes in terms of available seats were Jeddah (JED)–Riyadh (RUH), Dammam (DMM)–RUH and JED–DMM.[42] The carrier also performs
Hajj services.[43][44]
Nasmiles programme
Nasmiles is flynas' frequent flyer programme.[45][46]
Codeshare agreements
Flynas has a
codeshare agreement with
Etihad that dates back to 2012, allowing Flynas to place its code on a number of flights operated by Etihad that radiate from Abu Dhabi.[28][47] In May 2016, the airline signed a codeshare agreement with
Pegasus Airlines.[48]
In February 2020, Flynas joined the
International Air Transport Association (IATA), which will help the company with "greater co-operation" with other member airlines and increase connectivity through codeshare agreements.[49]
Administration
The managing director, and
CEO of Flynas is
Bander Almohanna, and the
chairman of the
board of directors is Ayed Aljeaid, and the vice-chairman is Talal AlMaiman, and the members of the board of directors are Hamza AlKholi, Saad AlMousa, and Saleh AlHenaki.[50]
In 2023, flynas firmed up an order with Airbus for 30 new A320neo Family aircraft during the
Paris Air Show, taking the airline's total order with Airbus to 120 aircraft valued at SAR 46 billion.[53][54][55]
Previously operated
Throughout its history the carrier operated the following aircraft: