Saudi Arabia’s budget carrier, flynas, has announced plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) later this year, following the hiring of financial advisors Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, and Saudi Fransi Capital for the listing. CEO Bander Almohanna confirmed the IPO date, revealing the airline’s intention to expand its network amid increasing competition in the Gulf aviation sector.

Flynas is also considering an order of 30 widebody aircraft to support its expansion efforts. While details of the aircraft models are yet to be disclosed, the airline has issued a request for proposal to aircraft manufacturers. During the Airline Economics conference in Riyadh, flynas disclosed its financial performance for the first time, reporting a notable 32% increase in revenue to 6.3 billion Saudi riyals ($1.68 billion) in 2023. Despite challenges such as the pandemic in 2020, flynas has consistently achieved annual profits since 2015.

Recently, flynas celebrated the delivery of its 50th aircraft, part of an order for 120 A320neo aircraft from Airbus valued at over SAR32 billion. The company aims to double its fleet size in line with Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plans to accommodate 330 million passengers and host 150 million tourists annually by 2030.