Saudi low-cost airline Flydeal established - Curt Lewis

Flyadeal to operate 50 aircraft by 2020

Saudia executives still deciding whether new low-cost sister airline will operate Airbus A320s or Boeing 737s

Dubai: Saudi Arabia's new low-cost airline Flyadeal will operate a fleet of up to 50 narrow-bodied aircraft by 2020, Saleh Al Jasser, director-general of Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), told reporters on Monday.

Flyadeal, a subsidiary of Saudia's holding company, was unveiled last week and will serve the destinations in the kingdom and the wider regional market. It will start operations in mid-2017.

"By 2020, the fleet for this company will be a minimum of 25 aircraft and the maximum will be 50," Al Jasser said in Dubai at the Arabian Travel Market.

Saudia executives are currently deciding whether Flyadeal will operate either Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 aircraft.

According to Al Jasser, a decision is expected in the coming weeks on whether aircraft from an existing Saudia order will be transferred to Flyadeal or an entirely new order will be placed.

Al Jasser will chair the Flyadeal board in addition to leading Saudia.

Last June, Saudi Arabian Airlines ordered 30 A320ceo's (current engine option) and 20 A330-300 Regional's worth $8.2 billion (Dh30.11 billion) at the Paris Air Show.

An A320neo, the new version of the single-aisle jet, was shown at the unveiling of Flyadeal in Jeddah last week.

Al Jasser said all aircraft used by Flyadeal would be leased and that the airline will service cities that are within a four-to-five hour flying time from its Jeddah hub in western Saudi Arabia.

"It will be single class, no business class. It's a pure low-cost product," he said.

Flyadeal will be the third commercial airline operating in Saudi Arabia after its sister carrier and flynas, a budget airline partly owned by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding.

Two other airlines, Saudi Gulf and the Qatar Airways-owned Al Maha Airways, have been waiting several years for regulatory approval to operate in Saudi Arabia's domestic market.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker told reporters on Monday that Al Maha Airways is "still in the process of certification."

"We hope we will be able to get to an agreement with the authorities in order for us to start operating these flights," he said at a press conference at the Arabian Travel Market.