Travel, Tourism Hospitality

Flynas launches Bahrain flights

Saudi Arabian budget carrier flynas, which made its first profit this year, has launched its inaugural flights to Bahrain, the airline s third destination within the Gulf region after UAE and Kuwait, from its hub in Riyadh.

The airline will fly three days a week on the Riyadh - Bahrain route.

The low-cost carrier has also annnounced plans to launch Jeddah-Bahrain operations with three flights a week starting from tomorrow (December 3).

The foray into Bahrain comes as part of flynas plans to continually expand its services to include new regional destinations, said senior officials at a gala launch event held on Tuesday to celebrate the new flights.

The flights from the Saudi capital depart at 6:50pm arriving in Bahrain at 8:00pm. On return, the flights take off at 8:50pm to arrive in Riyadh at 10pm local time.

Commenting on the launch, Bander Al Mohanna, the chief executive of NAS Holding Group, said: flynas is pleased to touch down in Bahrain and the introduction of this key destination to our GCC network is a major step forward in our commitment to offer greater connectivity, affordability and convenience to our growing consumer base.

As close neighbours, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain continue to share a special and strategic relationship and we are very pleased that flynas is making travel between the two countries easier, more convenient and more affordable than ever before, noted Al Mohanna, while speaking at the gala launch event in the presence of Mohamed Khalil, the chief commercial officer of Bahrain Airport Company as well as key government and Bahrain International Airport officials.

Moreover, with the addition of Bahrain, and we look forward to continue expanding into other regional cities in the future as part of our long-term expansion plans, he added.

With a fleet strength of 26 A320s, Flynas will be operating these flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays on both sectors.

The flights from Jeddah will take off at 4:55pm and land in Bahrain at 7:25pm. On return, the flight leaves at 8:15pm and arrives into King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah at 10:55pm.

Bahrain continues to remain one of the most popular business and leisure choices for the residents of Saudi Arabia and we will add both capacity and choice for frequent commuters between these two neighbours, he added.

Recent figures have shown that six million travellers from Saudi Arabia travelled to Bahrain in 2014, up 19.3 per cent compared to the previous year.

Given the high demand for this route, we are confident that this new service will benefit both markets on account of Bahrain s strong appeal as an attractive destination for business and leisure, stated Al Mohanna.

This is a lucrative sector for us and by adding Bahrain to the GCC route network we are significantly increasing the choice for both the business and leisure travellers (mostly families). Now with the introductory fares starting from as low as SR299 ($80) on Riyadh sector and SR399 ($106.4) for Jeddah, we are confident of a record turnout, remarked flynas CEO Paul Byrne.

The two routes will be operated using an Airbus A320 aircraft with the capacity to carry 164 guests in a two class configuration 156 in Economy and 8 in Business Class, he stated.

The Saudi budget carrier already flies to three key destinations in the Gulf - Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.

On its growth strategy, Byrne said: For us, partnerships is the way forward. We already have a codeshare deal with Etihad Airways, which allows us to place the XY flight code on 226 Etihad Airways flights between Abu Dhabi and 20 destinations around the world.

These include Amsterdam, Brussels, Casablanca, Geneva, Islamabad, Jakarta, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, London, Manchester, Paris, S o Paulo, Seychelles, Singapore, Zurich, and subsequently on flights operating to the Indian Subcontinent over the coming months, subject to regulatory approvals, he stated.

Byrne said flynas aims to have 100 planes over the next 10 years. All our planes have an average age of eight and half years. We are presently in talks with both Airbus and Boeing and whoever gives us the best offer, will get the order, he added.

To cater to the Bahrain market, flynas has signed a Passenger Sales Agent (PSA) agreement with Sanad Travel and Tourism, a leading travel agent in the kingdom. - TradeArabia News Service