RIYADH, 26 December 2006 — The National Air Services (NAS) is set to invest $800 million over a five-year period in its new low-frills airliner, Ayed Al-Jeaid, chairman of NAS, said at a press conference yesterday.
He said that the budget airliner — the first in the Kingdom’s aviation history — will change the landscape of the country’s aviation and travel sectors by setting new benchmark for travel service standards in the domestic travel market.
The low-cost carrier (LCC) which is scheduled for takeoff in the first quarter of next year, “is a new concept in air travel in the Kingdom,” Al-Jeaid said, adding that “NAS new budget carrier will bring about qualitative change in the Kingdom’s airline industry and promote a new travel culture that delivers more choices, value for money and convenience to the Kingdom’s traveling community.”
He pointed out that the new budget airliner would start its operations with five aircraft. The fleet strength is expected to jump to 18 aircraft by 2010. On its first year of operations, NAS’ low-frills carrier will fly to 22 Saudi cities and cover 37 domestic routes by the end of 2008. By 2011, the airline’s operational network will peak to include 642 weekly departures.
Budget airliners, known globally as low-cost carriers, follow a unique business model: single model aircraft fleet, and a single high-density configuration without the added frills and amenities that inflate the ticket price of any conventional carrier. While maintaining world-class safety and service standards, the chairman said budget airliners make profit “by keeping their logistics simple, cutting ground time and maximizing revenue-generating air time.”
Al-Jeaid further said that despite being a newcomer in the industry, it already operates the region’s biggest private fleet in addition to the reputed Al-Khayala Airlines for corporate and affluent clientele. “With our proven track record, we are determined to build on our reputation with the general public just as we have done so with our high-powered clientele.”
NAS obtained an air transport license from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) last Dec. 6, becoming the Kingdom’s first private airline operating from the capital.
“GACA’s evaluation process of all applicants set new world-class standards in terms of efficiency, transparency and professionalism and sets the foundation for the sector’s ongoing liberalization process,” Al-Jeaid said, underlining the firm commitment of NAS team to provide commercial aviation services with the world-class standards.
He said their company has the fastest growing private fleet in the Middle East currently comprising more than 33 aircraft under management from global manufacturers, which include Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream, Dassault and Raytheon.
By 2009, the workforce of NAS’ budget airliner is expected to reach about 265 employees and is expected to double by the end of 2012. LCC’s CEO Peter Griffiths, Taher Agueel, CEO NAS, and Omar Halawani, managing director, LCC, were present. Speaking to Arab News, Griffiths, who worked for a budget airline in the UK for several years, expressed his confidence that NAS has all the makings of a successful organization.
