A Saudi airline plans to expand in two countries and add 250 aircraft to its fleet

Saudi Arabia’s flynas said its board of directors had agreed to establish local units in two additional countries as part of a plan to become the largest low-cost airline in the Middle East and one of the top 5 airlines in the world.

The company will seek to obtain so-called air operator certificates in two unspecified countries at a time when it is looking to double the volume of its operations, according to a company statement reported by “Bloomberg”, and viewed by “Al Arabiya.net”.

This comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is expanding into the aviation industry as part of the kingdom’s efforts to make the economy less dependent on oil and to become one of the best tourist destinations in the world by 2030.

The plans include the construction of a new airport in Riyadh and a new airline, to be owned by the Public Investment Fund.

As part of this effort, flynas plans to expand its current aircraft order to 250 aircraft. The company had previously announced that it was considering wide-body models such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, which exceed its current fleet of narrow-body Airbus jets.

It is noteworthy that “flynas”, which began its operations under the name “Nas Aviation” in 2007, is partially owned by the Kingdom Holding Company.