Aviation Saudi budget airline Flynas expects IPO approval soon By Neil Halligan January 23, 2025, 5:40 PM Creative Commons/Attribution-ShareAlike Talal Al Maiman, CEO of Flynas' part-owner Kingdom Holding, said it planned to list 30% of its shares in the IPO Carrier will list 30% of shares Has aggressive expansion plan Operates all-Airbus fleet Saudi low-cost carrier Flynas is likely to get approval soon from the market regulator for its planned listing on the Riyadh stock exchange. Talal Al Maiman, CEO of the airline’s part-owner Kingdom Holding, said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV at the World Economic Forum that Flynas planned to list 30 percent of its shares. “We have submitted a listing application, and I expect that it is in the final stage of obtaining approval from the Capital Market Authority to list Flynas on the Saudi market,” Al Maiman said. Without giving specific details he confirmed that Flynas is making a profit. “This will be an interesting IPO to look at, given the aggressive expansion plan the company has and in general airlines have performed very well post-Covid shock led by revenge travel and cost efficiencies,” Riyadh-based market analysis company Sico Research said in a note on Thursday. Flynas chief executive Bander Al Mohanna confirmed last year that the airline was planning an IPO and had hired Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley and Saudi Fransi Capital for the potential listing. Al Mohanna told the Airline Economics conference in Riyadh that the airline has recorded profits every year since 2015, except for 2020 during the pandemic. In the financials released at that event, Flynas reported revenue of 6.3 billion Saudi riyals ($1.68 billion) for 2023, an increase of 32 percent. An ambitious year ahead for Gulf aviation Saudi low-cost airline Flynas to launch IPO Flynas expands Airbus fleet to reach new markets Flynas operates 1,500 flights a week with an all-Airbus fleet, connecting more than 70 domestic and international destinations, according to its website. The carrier is planning a major expansion in the coming years, agreeing an order of as many as 160 Airbus aircraft at Farnborough International Airshow in July last year, bringing its total order to 280 aircraft. Kingdom Holding Company has a 37 percent share in Flynas, formerly known as Nas Air. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund holds a 17 percent stake.
