flyadeal Awarded CAPA Asia Pacific Start-Up Of The Year

The Start-up of the Year award is for the past year’s airline start-up that has been the most innovative and had the greatest impact on the industry since launch.

flyadeal, a new fully owned subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation, was selected for its highly successful launch and innovative marketing strategy

flyadeal commenced operations in Sep-2017 and had already carried over 2 million passengers. The LCC currently operates eight A320s to eight domestic destinations and is close to finalising an order for up to 50 aircraft, positioning it for rapid growth over the next several years.

flyadeal is already the third largest domestic competitor in Saudi Arabia and is preparing to launch regional international operations in 2019. Long haul services are also under consideration for the medium term.

flyadeal decided to pursue a pure low cost model – becoming Saudi Arabia’s only pure LCC – aptly recognising the market was ready for a a true LCC following the introduction of a more liberal regulatory environment. The model has worked, stimulating demand and capturing high load factors from the first day with a strong following particularly among young Saudis. flyadeal’s marketing campaigns successfully educated customers of its low fares no frills approach and resulted in very strong brand recognition.

“flyadeal is off to great start and is already succeeding in a challenging market where others have failed,”CAPA executive chairman Peter Harbison said. “The new LCC is poised for future rapid growth given its strong position in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly growing market, where there is huge pent up demand at the bottom end, and its affiliation with a reinvigorated Saudia.”