Sharjah: Sharjah International Airport announced Monday that it has welcomed the first flights of Saudi Arabia-based budget carrier flynas. The airline joins a growing list of carriers operating scheduled flights to and from Sharjah. The airline will operate seven weekly flights from Jeddah to Sharjah Airport and two weekly flights from Madinah to Sharjah, operated on a Boeing 737 aircraft.
Ali Salim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Airport Authority (SAA), said Sharjah Airport Authority continues to implement a long-term strategy to reinforce the airport’s position in the travel and aviation sectors by expanding its services, buildings, and supporting facilities. “This is in conjunction with the ongoing work on the new expansion project to increase the airport's capacity to 25 million passengers annually by the end of 2027,” said Al Midfa.
He said that the expansion of travel and aviation through Sharjah Airport and the growth of airlines using the airport as their destination would enhance Sharjah's tourism status. Moreover, tourism, travel, and cargo movement between the UAE and Saudi Arabia are significantly growing.
“This is due to the diverse tourism and recreational destinations both countries offer, their hosting of many major international conferences, exhibitions, and events, as well as the strong and diverse economic and trade relations that support their investment and business activities, in addition to pilgrimage and Umrah trips to the holy lands in Saudi Arabia,” he added.
Last week, flynas had announced plans to “extensively expand” its UAE operations in September with the launch of eight new direct routes between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
This expansion will make flynas the only Saudi airline serving all four major airports in the UAE, increasing the frequency of flights between the two countries to over 20 per day.
The inaugural flynas flight was witnessed by Sheikh Faisal Bin Saoud Al Qassimi, Director of Sharjah Airport Authority, in the presence of Sultan Al Khaldi, KSA Sales Director at flynas, Syed Mazharuddin, Regional Manager GCC at Flynas, along with several officials and managers at Sharjah Airport Authority.
flynas, founded in 2007, operates more than 1,500 flights weekly to over 70 destinations inside and outside the Kingdom, with the airline carrying approximately 78 million passengers annually on its fleet of 61 aircraft.
