flynas, a Saudi national air carrier and leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Airbus to purchase 20 of the latest A321XLR and A321LR aircraft to be received by 2023 with a total value of $2.4 billion (SR9 billion). The deal was announced last Thursday (June 20) at The Paris Air Show. Ayed Al-Jeaid, Chairman of flynas, said "today, we are pleased to sign the most prominent MOU of its kind in the region for the procurement of A321XLR and A321LR aircraft. This step is in line with flynas' strategy to expand and reach more long-haul destinations in order to open new markets." Bandar Al-Muhanna, CEO of flynas, said "we are very pleased and proud today to sign an MOU with our Airbus partners to purchase 20 A321XLR and A321LR aircrafts with its unprecedented long-range operational performance of 8,700 kilometers, which is up to 11 flying hours." He added that the aircraft boasts fuel consumption 30% lower than its precursor." flynas will be the first operator of this type of aircraft in the Kingdom. He said "we have already received two aircrafts, and next week we will be receiving the third one, which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom." Al-Muhanna added that through this agreement, flynas targets the Umrah markets with a goal to transport around 5 million pilgrims annually, which will contribute to increasing the number of pilgrims in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 to receive 30 million pilgrims annually, in addition to tapping into new markets and offering further options for passengers inside and outside the Kingdom. He added "we pride ourselves with flynas' continuous success since its inception and we aspire to be the airline of choice in the region. In 2017, we signed the second largest deal of its kind to purchase 120 new Airbus A320neo aircrafts with a total value of $8.5 billion (SR32 billion). flynas' aircraft purchases have amounted to more than $10.9 billion (41 billion SR) since 2017. "These figures give a clear indication of the robust economic strength of the Saudi aviation sector, which has lately witnessed significant development and growth. flynas launched new destinations this year, including Vienna, Tbilisi, Batumi, Sarajevo, Baku and New Delhi. The carrier also increased the space between seats on domestic and international flights, which has also necessitated an increase in its fleet. — SG
