850 weekly flights on 27 routes. 2021 marked the commencement of international routes and the airline expects to be flying about 20 international routes by the end of 2022. flyadeal is focusing on providing digital solutions to customers in line with the Vision 2030 focus on digital enablement; 95% of seats sold are through direct online booking. The airline has also become the first in the Kingdom to create employment opportunities for Saudi women to work in several areas, including pilots, cabin crew, airport managers and executive leadership, and has also supported efforts to localise pilot positions through its cadet program. What excites you about the future of the company? The Vision 2030 agenda for Saudi Arabia is bold, substantial and very exciting. In all my years in the industry and countries I have worked I haven’t seen an opportunity the size of this. The LCC model in Saudi Arabia and the region is immature and the level of penetration is substantially below what it is in more mature markets. In short, we have tremendous growth ahead of us as an industry which is a strategically important enabler to achieve the Vision 2030 targets. With a young, digitally savvy, well educated, qualified and inspired team and customer base, the future is very bright indeed. Firm Profile We are proud to be the airline launched with aspirations of Vision 2030 as our driving force. We exist to provide affordable air travel through our everyday low fares, so now everyone can fly for less. flyadeal is an Everyday Low Fares Airline that has been created to meet the growing demand for affordable air travel in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. It is owned by the Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation. The launch of flyadeal as the Kingdom’s newest airline aims to serve both domestic and international destinations for leisure and business customers, Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, as well as the rising number of tourists to Saudi Arabia. flyadeal’s fleet of brand new A320neos are in a single, all economy class configuration. flyadeal’s first flight took off from Jeddah to Riyadh on Saudi National day, September 23, 2017. Within the first year of flying, flyadeal became the second-largest airline on the highest traffic route in MENA, Jeddah-Riyadh. The airline offers point-to-point travel, an innovative (and costeffective) online distribution model and unbundled fares with a selection of ancillary features and products. As of March 2022, flyadeal has flown almost 15 million passengers. The current fleet of 20 A320 aircraft is carrying approximately 15,000 passengers daily, serving 23 domestic routes between 13 domestic destinations and also flies 4 international routes. The airline has concluded an order with Airbus for 50 A320neo aircraft and is expected to operate 50 aircraft by 2025. CEO Today Mi dd l e Ea s t Award s 2022 - 63 - - SAUDIA ARABIA -
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