Dubai: Flynas will report its first ever profit in 2015 after nine consecutive months of profitability, Chief Executive Officer Paul Byrne said on Sunday.
The Saudi Arabian airline, which launched in 2007, has never made a profit and seen several changes to its business model and a number of CEOs come and go.
Byrne took over as CEO at the end of 2014, directing the airline to focus on regional Middle East routes and drop plans for scheduled long-haul flights to Europe and East Asia. Byrne told Gulf News in May 2015 the airline would be profitable this year.
Flynas will soon deploy two aircraft permanently in Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, Byrne told an aviation conference in Dubai. The airline will also launch five times weekly flights from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi in December that will code-share with Etihad Airways. Byrne later told reporters that Jeddah to Abu Dhabi, and Dammam to Abu Dhabi will likely follow.
New aircraft
With an expected healthy profit in 2015, the airline is planning to add three to four aircraft a year to its fleet over the next five years, Byrne had told Gulf News in May. He said on Sunday that airline is talking to Boeing and Airbus for the new aircraft and considering purchasing and leasing options. Flynas operates a fleet of about 26 Airbus A320s, narrow-body aircraft used for short-haul flights.
Byrne said flynas will focus on growing its network to cities to Arab Gulf states because of the visa-free travel for Arab Gulf citizens to Saudi Arabia. He also said he hopes that its code-share with Etihad Airways will help it grab a share of the lucrative Indian Subcontinent market.
