Photo: flyadeal
Saudi low-fare carrier flyadeal has launched five routes from Madinah, its newest operational base in the Kingdom.
The new routes include scheduled flights from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport to Sabiha Gökçen in Istanbul and four domestic cities in Saudi – Abha, Al Hofuf, Jazan and Tabuk.
The new links takes the number of destinations served from Madinah by the low-fare carrier from three to eight, with a 40% increase in the number of flyadeal operated flights out of the Holy city. Previously, the carrier had served Dammam, Riyadh and Cairo from Madinah.
Commenting on the launch of the new routes, flyadeal’s CEO Steven Greenway said: “We’ve steadily built capacity from Madinah, but this expansion of five new routes at the beginning of the year is a statement of intent from flyadeal to develop Madinah into one of our key operational bases.”
Having aircraft positioned in Madinah, he added, provides the airline with the flexibility to quickly upgrade with increased frequencies or add routes to a schedule which will continue to be built up. This, said Greenway, will “give our customers more choice and convenience of direct flights to travel within the Kingdom and beyond. Madinah was a natural addition as a base given its prominence as the second holiest city in the Islamic world and a key gateway for pilgrims.”
The expanded schedule supplements flyadeal’s dedicated year-round Umrah flights from several countries direct to Madinah, north of the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
“The additional routes aim to cater to both outbound travel for holidaymakers and business travellers living and working in and around Madinah, while also attracting inbound pilgrimages,” added Rogier van Enk, flyadeal Chief Commercial and Customer Officer. He also noted his team plans to continue building air travel connectivity from to and from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport.
With two aircraft now based in Madinah, almost 60% of the LCCs’ narrowbody fleet of Airbus A320s are currently based at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh. Eleven are positioned at King Abdulaziz in Jeddah and five at Dammam’s King Fahd Airport.
