Flynas to decide between Boeing, Airbus by Ramadan

Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s Flynas will decide on whether to order Boeing 737MAXs or Airbus 320NEOs before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the airline’s chief executive announced on Wednesday.
Paul Byrne told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event in Dubai that it had decided against a potential order of Bombardier’s CS300 aircraft because the plane had not been flown by a Middle Eastern carrier in the region’s harsh
climate.
Caps on fares imposed by the Saudi government would remain in place for at least the next five years, he said, although these limits would be eased on an annual basis.
Byrne argued these charges were “unfair” on Flynas as, unlike flag-carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines, the low-cost carrier was not subsidised by the state.
Ramadan is due to start in early June.

Rules out Bombardier from possible 100-jet order
Flynas is in talks with Boeing Co and Airbus for a potential 100-jet order, Byrne said, adding it had ruled out Bombardier from its considerations.
The kingdom’s low-cost airline had requested proposals from the two rival aerospace giants to buy 60 planes with an option for 40 more, he said.
Byrne said in January Flynas was also considering Bombardier for the deal, but recently ruled out the struggling Canadian aircraft maker.
“We just didn’t want to be the launch customer” for its C Series jet, he said without elaborating.
Flynas, formerly Nas Air, is a domestic and international low-cost airline based in Saudi Arabia, the country’s first and only budget airline. The company’s head office is located on the first floor of the Al Salam Centre in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabian Airlines was the only airline in the country until 2006, when budget carriers Nas Air and Sama Airlines got their licenses from the government. Nas Air was founded in 2007 and operations started in February during the same year.