Why We Will Order Widebodies & Have Little Interest In Flying To Europe

The speed with which the Saudi Arabian aviation market is growing is extraordinary. Yes, the Air Connectivity Program funding plays a role as the country diversifies its economy away from oil as part of its highly ambitious Vision 2030. But it is more than that, with Saudi Arabia home to a very young, digital-savvy population who are, apparently, thirsty to travel. It is something that Saudia, flynas, flyadeal
, the forthcoming Riyadh Air, and many international operators are targeting.

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This is the latest information.

A summary of flyadeal

flyadeal (IATA code F3) is Saudia’s lower-cost unit. It has existed since 2017. At Routes World in Bahrain, Steven Greenway, flyadeal’s CEO, could not have been clearer about the airline’s market position.

“We’re a bus. That’s what we are. We are unashamedly a bus.”

Steven Greenway

Photo: James Pearson | Shutterstock

Greenway said flyadeal’s traffic is currently 80% domestic and 20% international. “We are not set up for international operations and only began international flights fairly recently [in July 2021 from Riyadh to Dubai].” Its passengers tend to be road warriors (domestic), laborers (Egypt), umrah (year-round pilgrimage; e.g., Türkiye), and outbound tourism (e.g., Türkiye).

Due to significant growth, Greenway expects a big shift in traffic composition by the end of 2025: 65% domestic and 35% international. It’ll focus on “key high-volume routes.” He acknowledged that “we put a pin in Saudi and look at a five-hour range. We’ll fly to places within that range.”

flyadeal Airbus A320neo Inflight

Of course, fleet expansion will be critical. flyadeal currently has 35 A320ceos and neos, plus one A330-200 wet-leased from Jordan Aviation (JY-JVB).

Greenway said three more narrowbodies are due to arrive by the end of the year. The first A321neos, which will have 240 seats, will arrive in Q1 2026. They’ll be critical to reducing seat-mile costs while assisting with capacity at slot-constrained airports. Then there are the widebodies it wants to acquire itself.

flyadeal’s CEO on widebodies

The one twin-aisle aircraft is currently wet-leased, and Flightradar24 shows it is primarily flown between Medina and Baghdad for pilgrimage reasons. This frees up an A320 that can be used elsewhere.

Jordan Aviation A330-200 landing

flyadeal’s experience with the A330 has contributed to its desire for its own twin-aisle aircraft, with “a few” expected to arrive next year. They will also be wet-leased as a stop-gap, enabling A320s to be redeployed and flown elsewhere.

“We are examining widebody options, the Boeing 787 and A330, with an order to be placed by the year’s end. We have no interest in the A350 as the range is far too great. It is over-engineered because of this.”

Airbus A330neo flying VanderWolf Images Shutterstock 169

Hang on: what about complexity?

Generally speaking, compromising on an airline’s strategy and market position can be very dangerous as it adds costs and complexity. Among many other examples, that is why so many ultra-low-cost and low-cost carriers worldwide stick with one fleet. Adding another fleet, let alone widebodies, is very out-of-the-box.

“Yes, a dual fleet does make it more complex, but it’ll work, especially as Saudi is a high-volume, low-yield market. Hajj, umrah, labor, we have to cater for these markets. We will put in as many seats as possible [for example, Cebu Pacific’s A330neos have 459 seats] to counteract the lower yields. We’ll still have a small premium cabin.”

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Europe is on the list, but…

flyadeal already flies to a European airport: Istanbul Airport, on the European side of the Bosphorus. It has been part of its network since 2022. But Greenway didn’t mean Istanbul when discussing Europe, and he referred to the airline’s A320s/A321s rather than widebodies.

“Europe is on our list, but there’s a lot of complexity, including taxes, so it’s not near the top. There are many other markets that are much more interesting to us than Europe [in contrast, flynas serves Berlin, Brussels, Marseille, Sarajevo, etc.].

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations are important. We don’t even fly to Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha. We need to go to our backyard before Paris. There’s also the Indian Subcontinent. Just think about the new airports coming in the key metros Delhi and Mumbai.”

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