Flyadeal CEO on Its Unconventional Playbook for Scaling the Saudi Airline

Saudi Arabia’s Flyadeal is surely rewriting the low-cost rulebook. From widebody orders to a rare partnership with Cebu Pacific, this domestic darling is now eyeing global scale, all without losing sight of its lean, point-to-point roots.

Flyadeal, the budget subsidiary of Saudi Arabian national carrier Saudia, is keen to reshape what it means to be an LCC in the Middle East.

By 2030, flyadeal plans to triple its fleet size to over 100 aircraft and also increase its network three-fold to more than 100 destinations.

Two weeks ago, Flyadeal and Cebu Pacific signed a deal to wet-lease two Cebu Pacific A320s for Saudi Arabia’s busy summer season. In return, Cebu Pacific may take Flyadeal A320s for Southeast Asia’s winter peak.

This kind of reciprocal wet-leasing arrangement is rare in low-cost aviation. CEO Steven Greenway references the Sunwing-TUI model from Canada and Europe as a blueprint: “They were one of the very few to do it… So that's the model I sort of see as my Northern Light.”

The Flyadeal-Cebu Pacific partnership also opens doors to collaboration in maintenance, engineering, and training. But for now, both carriers are focused on executing the summer operation successfully bef