Dubai: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is setting up a low cost airline called Flyadeal to serve Saudi Arabian cities and key regional destinations from mid-2017.
The carrier, to be based in Jeddah, will offer a single class configuration and operate Saudi’s main trunk routes including Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam and key regional markets, the airline’s Twitter account @flyadeal posted on Sunday.
Flyadeal will focus on “delivering value for money to cost conscious customers,” Saudia Director General Saleh Bin Al Jasser said on the Twitter account.
“A low cost fare does not mean low service so we will be world class in our focus of giving customers the best service possible,” he said.
The airline will have a strategy independent of parent carrier Saudia and will not be a member of global alliance SkyTeam, of which Saudia is a member, according to the posts.
“Flyadeal will be a single class low fare carrier which means we are focused on getting people from A to B for a fair price,” says its Twitter account.
No information was given on the airline’s management or which aircraft the airline would use.
An Airbus A320neo, the European plane maker’s newest version of its single-aisle aircraft, was shown at the airline’s launch on its snapchat account, a social media app. Saudia and Airbus could not be reached to comment.
Last June, Saudia ordered 30 A320ceo planes and 20 A330-300 Regional aircraft at the Paris Air Show with a list price value of $8.2 billion.
The new airline will face competition in Saudi Arabia from flynas, a low cost airline partly owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding, as well as from established regional budget carriers flydubai, Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways.
