Outside the Middle East “Big Three” (Emirates Airline, Etihad and Qatar Airways), other international airlines are making steady progress growing in the region, although results have been mixed. Flydubai again reported losses in the first half of the year, while Air Arabia improved. Saudi Arabia’s new low-cost subsidiary, flyadeal, EgyptAir and Oman Air are all in the process of expanding their fleets.

Flydubai and Emirates recently announced a codeshare agreement, schedule alignment and network optimization. The airlines said Emirates would codeshare on 29 routes operated by flydubai starting October 29. Flydubai reported losses of $39 million on revenues of $689 million for the first half. It took delivery of its final two Boeing 737-800NGs, and its fleet average age is now 4.0 years.

Passenger numbers increased to 5.4 million for the period, an increase of 11 percent. Business class passengers per departure saw an increase of 22 percent. It said in August it would be the first airline in the region to take delivery of the 737 Max 8, six of which were to arrive before year-end.

Air Arabia saw profits rise in this year's second quarter, up 21 percent to $43 million from the same period last year, although revenues were flat, rising 1.3 percent to $247 million. It served over 4.1 million passengers in the first half of 2017, while average seat load factor for the period was 79 percent. It received two new Airbus A320s, adding 12 new routes from its five operating hubs in the UAE (Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah), Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. Air Arabia’s global network stands at 130 routes.

In Saudi Arabia, Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, transport minister and president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), announced in May that Singapore’s Changi Airport Group had won the bid to operate Jeddah’s new King Abdulaziz Airport terminal for the next 20 years. News reports said the new airport complex would open next year, but MEBAA chairman Ali Alnaqbi told AIN he does not expect it to open “for another two years.”

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) said April 2017 it set a record when it flew 2.9 million passengers in one month. According to its website, the Saudia fleet totals 141 aircraft, including 35 Boeing 777-300ERs, 11 Boeing 787-9s and 28 Airbus A330-300s. The airline retired the last of its Embraer aircraft in December and now operates solely Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

Saudia director general Saleh bin Nasser al-Jasser told Reuters October 5 that the requirement for flyadeal, its new low-cost subsidiary airline, would likely be for approximately 30 single-aisle aircraft. Talks are scheduled to take place before the end of December on the acquisition of Boeing 737 or Airbus A320-family aircraft, he said. The airline launched domestic flights in September and wants to start operating internationally by the middle of 2018.

In Oman, Paul Gregorowitsch, outgoing CEO of Oman Air, stated earlier this year that the fleet consists of six Dreamliners: four Boeing 787-800s and two Boeing 787-900s. “There is another one coming in December this year,” he told AIN. “In 2018, we will take three 787-900s; two of them will be in the first-class configuration. Next year, we will also take five 737 Max aircraft. At the end of the year, our fleet size will be around 50 aircraft.

“We are still aiming to open Peshawar, but the airport has been used for military activity near the Afghan border. In 2018, we are looking to Hong Kong and also South Africa.”

Earlier this year, Kuwaiti lessor Alafco completed a sale-and-leaseback transaction with Kuwait Airways for four new Boeing 777-300ERs. All four were delivered to the airline between June and August this year. However, Kuwait Airlines chairwoman Rasha Al Roumi resigned in April, reportedly citing lack of support from the government for the airline’s refleeting exercise.

In North Africa, EgyptAir will take delivery of its ninth Boeing aircraft, part of a $1 billion 2016 order, before year-end. It took delivery of the eighth, a Boeing 737-800NG, in October. Reports quoted company chairman Safwat Musallem as saying the airline is planning for a fleet size of 150 aircraft by 2025, and that an order for 33 aircraft is imminent.

Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines published extensive operating figures in its 2016 Board of Directors report. It said it operated 20 aircraft and had operating revenues of $672 million last year, and net profits of $94 million, for net margin of 14 percent. It claimed market share of 37 percent at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport last year, when it operated more than 24,700 flights and carried 2.7 million passengers.