Saudi low-cost carrier flynas will launch direct flights to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa from Riyadh and Jeddah starting next month.
From October 9, the airline will operate the new route from Riyadh with flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
From October 10 onwards it will begin operating services from Jeddah to Addis Ababa thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
The airline said that the launch of the new destinations is a decision intended to further expand its network in the African market.
Apart from Addis Ababa and outside Africa, the airline recently said that it would launch direct flights from Jeddah to Bishkek and Osh in Kyrgyzstan and Almaty in Kazakhstan.
Overall, flynas operates 70 domestic and international destinations, with more than 1,500 weekly flights. Saudi Arabia, as part of its National Civil Aviation Strategy, aims to reach 330 million passengers and 100 million tourists and increase the number of international destinations connected to the kingdom to more than 250 destinations by 2030.
In June this year, flynas said that it had increased its fleet size by 94 per cent in the last 24 months to 49 aircraft. Its fleet mix includes 32 Airbus A320 neo, 13 Airbus A320 ceo and four widebody Airbus A330. The Saud airline is an all-Airbus operator and was the first carrier in the kingdom to acquire an A320 neo.
More recently, it launched a new operations base at the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International airport in Madinah. It therefore becomes the only carrier with four bases across the kingdom.
As part of its sustainability initiatives, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) whereby both entities will explore partnership opportunities and best solutions for adopting technology and ideal recycling solutions to treat flynas waste including oils, plastics and batteries, among other items.
(Image: Supplied by flynas)