Saudi Arabian low-cost airline Flynas, holder of one of only two licences to operate scheduled commercial flights within the kingdom, has turned its attention to expanding business traffic and capitalizing on increased religious tourism to Jeddah once contractors finish their work on expanding the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

“Things are going quite well; we’ve turned something of a corner,” Flynas CEO Paul Byrne told AIN. The Saudi habit of buying tickets on short notice means that low advance bookings don’t stop flights eventually filling on a round-trip basis. “The corridor between Jeddah and Dubai is fantastic for us,” said Byrne. “Jeddah is one of those cities [that] has phenomenal demand. A lot of my flights to Jeddah from Riyadh will [start at] 10- to 15 percent load factors, but I know they are [eventually] going to be full,” Byrne said.

Flynas operates domestic flights in the kingdom to Medina, Al Qassim, Abha, Jizan, Taif, Hail and Tabuk, as well as Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah and Yanbu. Its international destinations include Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Kuwait and the UAE.

“We are flying to most of the population centers. We would like to fly to more,” said Byrne, an Irishman who has run the company since last November. “Definitely, the kingdom is still something of an untapped market, domestically.”

Load factors vary with seasonality, and often depend on the religious calendar. “[They] are a bit of a roller coaster. They were a real struggle for us in February, April and May. January, March and June so far have just been gangbusters,” he said.  

One problem Byrne has faced of late, however, stems from authorities’ failure to issue Umrah visas to pilgrims due to construction work at the Great Mosque. As a result, inbound traffic to Jeddah, which serves as gateway to Mecca, has suffered. “That pretty much closes down Sudan, Egypt and Jordan,” said Byrne. “Turkey is a huge market for us and that’s slowing down inbound. That type of thing will affect us.”

Today, Flynas leases its entire fleet of 24 A320s. “We pretty much operate 22 every day...One could be spare and one on maintenance,” explained Byrne. “During peaks we try to operate 23, with one spare, which is quite a challenge. We are looking at bringing in another; we had a very good offer on the lease for the rest of the year.”

On fleet expansion, Byrne said he is studying "reasonable leases." Flynas plans to send one aircraft back to Gecas next year, and bring in another this year as cover. By the end of the year it expects to lease at least 25 aircraft, and to add two to three more by the end of 2016.