800 Flyadeal cabin crew to train as...

Staff will study kingdom’s culture and attractions to become travel ambassadors

Saudi low-cost airline Flyadeal is training 800 cabin crew as certified tour guides to support the kingdom’s Vision 2030 tourism goals, which will target 150 million visitors a year.

The fast-growing airline will train crew on Saudi culture and historical attractions so they can become tourism ambassadors when engaging with passengers and can also work with visitors to the country on a private basis.

Applications will be opened for Saudi nationals and the training will be accredited by the Ministry of Tourism.

Flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway said the airline “continues to push the boundaries” when it comes to employee training.

“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,” said Greenway.

As the fastest-growing G20 country and third globally for international tourist arrivals growth, soaring by 25%, Saudi is seeing a growing need for tour guides.

Flyadeal, which operates a domestic network of 18 towns and cities across Saudi and serves nine international destinations year-round, expects to triple its network to more than 100 destinations with a fleet rising from the current 38 aircraft to more than 100.

Recently, the airline increased its flights from Riyadh to Dubai World Central to daily in April and will increase frequency from Riyadh to Dubai international from five daily flights to six from 1 June 2025.

The new route from Riyadh to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen will see daily flights from 29 May 2025, and the new route from Jeddah to Alexandris will be four times a week from 1 June 2025.

Summer services begin from 19 June 2025 from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to Baku in Azerbaijan, Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, Tbilisi in Georgia, Trabzon in Turkey and Salalah in Oman.

Speaking at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025, Flyadeal Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Rogier van Enk, who joined the airline in March, said “this year alone we are targeting one new route every two weeks, which clearly places Flyadeal as the fastest-growing airline, low-cost or full-service, in the Middle East”.

For more information, visit www.flyadeal.com

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