Flyadeal, the fastest growing airline in the Middle East, has announced a regional first with Saudi cabin crew to be trained as certified tour guides in support of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 to build a dynamic tourism industry.
Flyadeal, the fastest growing airline in the Middle East, has announced a regional first with Saudi cabin crew to be trained as certified tour guides in support of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 to build a dynamic tourism industry.
The programme will target 800 crew by 2030 for comprehensive tour guide training in which they will embrace wider learnings of Saudi Arabia’s culture and historical attractions.
Upon completion, they will receive a licence as tourism ambassadors enabling them to hone their skills as official guides engaging with passengers, and with visitors in a private capacity.
Over the next few weeks, the Saudi-based airline will open applications for courses specifically designed for Saudi nationals. A training institute accredited to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism will conduct the courses.
The initiative was announced at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, the region’s largest gathering of travel industry professionals from across the Middle East.
Flyadeal promoted several developments at the show including its upcoming summer season flying programme and new year-round destinations.
Steven Greenway, flyadeal Chief Executive Officer, said: “flyadeal continues to push the boundaries with employee initiatives designed to enhance their personal development and professional skills. This new training programme, the first of its kind in the Middle East, will empower crew and equip them with the skills and confidence to engage with visitors as official tourism ambassadors.
“As licensed tour guides, the beauty of the programme allows our crew to use their new-found skills while interacting with passengers but also harness their experience by taking tourists on guided tours around the wonderful historic sites that the Kingdom is so renowned for.”
To kick-off the programme, flyadeal crew were given a guided tour of the fascinating Dirayah district – the birthplace of Saudi Arabia – in the Kingdom’s capital, Riyadh. They explored and learned more about the traditional mud-brick architecture and cultural sites being restored to their former glory, but more importantly gained insights into what it takes to become a certified tour guide.
Massive investment is underway in the Dirayah project being developed as the nation’s foremost historical, cultural and lifestyle destination. With Saudi Arabia looking to welcome 150 million domestic and international visitors by 2030 as part of the nation’s economic diversification strategy, tourism infrastructure is scaling up across the country.
flyadeal is already playing a key role in national efforts to promote tourism in, and to the Kingdom through an expanding partnership with Saudi Tourism Authority. The airline operates a large domestic network of 18 towns and cities across all national provinces, with a rising international network that currently stands at nine destinations served year-round.
flyadeal’s domestic coverage includes Abha, Al Bahah, Al Hofuf, Arar, Bisha, Dammam, Gizan, Gurayat, Hail, Jeddah, Madinah, Najran, Neom, Qassim, Riyadh, Tabuk, Taif and Yanbu with more planned to be introduced during 2025.
The year-round international network currently covers nine destinations. Amman (Jordan), Cairo and Sohag (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkey), Dubai International and Dubai World Central (UAE) and Karachi (Pakistan), with Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (Turkey) and Alexandria (Egypt) coming online over the next few weeks.
Including summer seasonal services, flyadeal flies to over 30 destinations in Saudi Arabia, Middle East, North Africa, Europe and South Asia.
Network Growth
By 2030, flyadeal expects to triple its network to more than 100 destinations with a fleet also increasing three-fold to over 100 aircraft. flyadeal currently operates 38 Airbus A320 family aircraft on short- and medium-haul routes from bases in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
With ambitious growth plans that will see flyadeal’s size increase three-fold by 2030, the airline is ramping up manpower heavily that will see the number of employees across the business increase from over 1,400 to more than 4,000 within five years.
During ATM, flyadeal highlighted growth of its international network including ramping up capacity to Dubai; expanded operations to Turkey and Egypt; launching Hajj pilgrim flights; and entering long-haul markets from 2027 following a recent order for Airbus A330neo widebody aircraft.
Upcoming new destinations include Istanbul’s second airport Sabiha Gökçen and the port city of Alexandria – flyadeal’s fourth gateway in Egypt – plus Salalah in Oman among six summer seasonal services.
2025 Route Highlights
• Riyadh to Dubai International: up from five to six daily flights, effective June 1, 2025
• Riyadh to Dubai World Central: up from four a week to daily, from April 1, 2025
• Riyadh to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen: daily flights, effective May 29, 2025 (new route)
• Jeddah to Alexandria: four-times-a-week, effective June 1, 2025 (new route)
• Karachi in Pakistan marked the airline's entry into South Asia in February 2025 with flights from Riyadh and Jeddah (new route)
2025 Summer Seasonal Services, effective June 19 2025, from Riyadh, Jeddah
and Dammam:
• Baku (Azerbaijan)
• Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt)
• Tbilisi (Georgia)
• Trabzon (Turkey)
• Salalah (Oman)
Addressing a Press Conference at Arabian Travel Market, flyadeal Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Rogier van Enk said the expansion represented ongoing aspirations of an airline focused on growth. And flyadeal Chief Information Officer Mohannad Salman AlSalmi spoke of how continued investment in the airline's digital journey was critical to fulfil growth plans. - TradeArabia News Service