FLYADEAL STILL UNSURE OF BOEING 737 MAX ORDERS
▶ Saudi Arabian airline says the decision hinges on the timing of aircraft’s availability after safety evaluations
Saudi Arabian low-cost airline Flyadeal will make a decision on continuing with its Boeing 737 Max order in “the coming weeks”, its chief executive said.
Flyadeal’s decision hinges on the jet’s availability in time to meet the airline’s growth targets, as the company seeks to add more domestic routes in the kingdom and enter the international market for the first time, Con Korfiatis told The National.
The airline is considering the competitor Airbus A320 Neo single-aisle model if it cancels the deal with the US plane manufacturer.
The airline, which operates 11 A320s, is re-evaluating the Boeing order after the re-engined narrow-body model was involved in two deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a span of five months.
“It could go in any direction, the jury is still out,” Mr Korfiatis said on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. “It’s the ability [of Boeing] to fulfil the business plan requirements for Flyadeal in the time we foresee, that’s a big driver.”
Flyadeal has 30 737 Max 8s on order with the option for 20 more in a deal valued at $5.9 billion (Dh21.6bn) at list prices.
Mr Korfiatis expressed confidence in the Chicago jet manufacturer’s ability to fix the plane and said the decision is still “up in the air”.
“We have no doubt that whatever the issue is, it will be addressed,” he said. “It’s Boeing at the end of the day and they’ve been producing aircraft forever. The 737 is the best-selling model ever, so from that point of view, there’s no doubt they’ll fix it.
“It’s a question of timing and if the timing is too late and has a material impact on the growth plans for Flyadeal, then that’s what will drive it [the decision] the other way,” he said.
The troubled 737 Max jet, the workhorse of airlines, has been grounded globally after the two fatal crashes.
Boeing is working on a software upgrade to fix the 737 Max jet and new training for pilots that must be approved by regulators before the aircraft is recertified to resume flying.
The 737 range has been in operation since 1967 and is Boeing’s most successful commercial jet.
Flyadeal, a unit of stateowned Saudi Arabian Airlines or Saudia, plans to grow its fleet to at least 50 aircraft by 2025 to expand its network within the kingdom’s lucrative domestic market, where it sees potential for about 24 routes.
The airline is also looking to start international service before the end of 2019 or the beginning of next year, depending on whether it gets more aircraft by then, Mr Korfiatis said.
The first route would be in the Middle East and North Africa, within a “few hours” range of Saudi Arabia.
The airline had planned to lease jets until the new planes were delivered.
Flyadeal, which was established in September 2017, carried 2.5 million passengers this year and is targeting a 50 to 100 per cent increase this year, the chief executive said.
The airline sees a possibility for a codeshare partnership with Saudia, similar to the one struck by Dubai’s Emirates and sister budget airline flydubai, but Flyadeal is “too small” to form such an alliance yet, he said.
Flyadeal, which introduced female cabin crew, sees the potential for women pilots in the cockpit “soon”, Mr Korfiatis said.