FLYNAS, Saudi Arabia's national carrier, concluded another successful participation in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by drawing key dignitaries who praised the efforts of the airline in its journey of transformation into a global carrier and its commitment to maintaining its edge as a reliable and responsible domestic carrier. The four-day event featured visits by key Saudi dignitaries and created an opportunity for the Airline to share its various activities, programs, and initiatives. Prince Sultan bin Salman, President of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, visited the flynas pavilion during the first day of ATM and praised its efforts. He was also briefed on the airline's aggressive expansion plans into both the local, regional, and now the international markets following the successful launch of flynas Global Flights Program which expanded the airline's reach into three continents, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Dr. Faisal Bin Hamad Al Sughair, Vice President of the General Authortity of Civil Aviation, visited flynas on the last day of the show and received a full briefing on the airline's transformation program highlighting its commitment to the domestic markets, which represents around 70% of the airline's total business. flynas CEO Raja Azmi said: “We are honored with the visits of Prince Sultan Bin Salman and Dr. Faisal Al Sughair which reflect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's commitment to building a robust air transport industry and support key Saudi enterprises. We are quite pleased with the opportunity to share our vision with the visitors and highlight the key milestones in our journey.” Azmi added, ”Exhibiting at ATM gave us the opportunity to enhance our presence at the region and highlight the successful transformation of flynas into a global airline, a transition which has been brought about by massive investment in people, new aircraft and equipment, as well as significant enhancements to our services including the introduction of Business Class and Economy Plus in response to overwhelming customer demand.” Wael Al Sarhan, flynas Director of Marketing and Communication, said: “Our journey is just beginning as we embark to create a strong aviation brand from Saudi Arabia to the world as well as establishing Jeddah as a regional hub for the flynas Global Flights Program. At the regional level, the UAE is a both a growing and strategic market for flynas and we plan to increase the number of flights into Dubai and Sharjah to cater for the high demand from the business, tourism, education and religious tourism sectors.” Al Sarhan continued, “At the same time, we are expanding our reach to new destinations around the world and as a result we are progressing towards becoming a leading airline in the global aviation industry. So far this year we have introduced nine key new destinations; London, Manchester, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Casablanca and Cairo, and as part of our Global Flights Program we have hosted launch events to celebrate our entry into these important markets. In addition, to further strengthen our position we are participating in aviation, travel and tourism trade shows in the countries where we now operate.” The highly successful launch of flynas with a new brand identity and major upgrades to its service offering, together with the focus on adding new destinations and widening the scope of its customer segmentation, while continuing to provide convenient, comfortable, low-cost flights, are all key parts of the airline's 20X20 strategy targeting 20 million passengers yearly by 2020. The Arabian Travel Market is the leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals from across the globe and attracts high level decision-makers and buyers representing every aspect of the leisure travel industry. — SG
