By Rafiq Vayani
RIYADH/DUBAI/KARACHI: flyadeal, Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing low-cost airline, has celebrated the first anniversary of flights to Pakistan with an appreciation travel trade awards dinner in Karachi.
The airline marked the occasion just weeks after officially opening its new sales and marketing office in Pakistan’s commercial capital, one of five destinations now served across the country by flyadeal.
Since the February 2025 launch of flyadeal’s scheduled services from Riyadh and Jeddah to the port city of Karachi – the airline’s first destination in South Asia – capacity scaled up within eight months to include Peshawar, Sialkot, Lahore and Islamabad.
flyadeal now operates a total of 18 non-stop flights a week between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
In recognition of the travel industry’s support, flyadeal honoured top performing agents with awards in Karachi where flyadeal is represented by local partner and general sales agent Matchless Global.
flyadeal’s Jeddah-based management team led by Farooq Ahmad, Head of Sales, and International Sales Manager Mohammed Desouky, was joined by Muhammad Saleem Motiwala, Country Sales Manager Pakistan, as hosts to over 100 travel agents for the celebratory activities.
Steven Greenway, flyadeal Chief Executive Officer, said: “It’s been an incredible 12 months from market entry to developing strong in-country awareness with flyadeal ramping up operations across Pakistan in a short period.
“We’ve built partnerships with the support of industry and regulatory stakeholders, yet very much look forward to further expanding our Pakistan network this year with more destinations and frequencies to deliver wider choices to customers at competitively low fares and more convenient non-stop services.
“Air access remains the single biggest asset any country can have to support economic activity between nations. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have developed growing air links building on cultural and business ties, a formidable relationship which continues to go from strength to strength.”
Farooq Ahmad, flyadeal Head of Sales, added: “flyadeal has built a great relationship with Pakistan’s travel agency community, quickly establishing confidence and trust among the trade and, indeed, loyalty among consumers.
“Our flights have supported the needs of the large Pakistani community living and working in the Kingdom, providing affordable travel options to visit family and friends back home. We also facilitate easy direct access to Saudi Arabia, whether for work, business or Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages avoiding typical time-consuming one-stop travel via other Gulf countries.”
All flyadeal services to and from Pakistan are operated with Airbus A320 family aircraft in a single 186-seat Economy Class configuration.
flyadeal currently operates scheduled flights from bases in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah to more than 30 domestic and international seasonal and year-round destinations in the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and South Asia with a modern fleet of 44 Airbus A320 family aircraft.
