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Saudi Arabia's flynas Receives 2 Airbus A320neo

Nas Aircraft, the Saudi national economic carrier (Middle East)
Nas Aircraft, the Saudi national economic carrier (Middle East)
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Saudi Arabia's flynas Receives 2 Airbus A320neo

Nas Aircraft, the Saudi national economic carrier (Middle East)
Nas Aircraft, the Saudi national economic carrier (Middle East)

The Saudi budget airline flynas announced Monday that it had acquired two new Airbus A320neo aircraft, representing the third batch of 19 aircraft of the same model scheduled to be received this year.

Flynas signed an agreement with Airbus during the Paris Airshow to purchase 30 new A320neo aircraft as part of the national carrier's plans to increase its fleet.

Saudi Aviation announced that the size of the fleet has increased to 51 aircraft, up 96 percent in two years, compared to its size of 26 aircraft in the first quarter of 2021.

The two new A320neo aircraft arrived from Toulouse, France, and landed at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, bringing the number of aircraft delivered by flynas to seven; five are A320neo and two A330.

Flynas CEO Bander al-Mohanna announced that the airline received the second batch of A320neo aircraft in less than a month, within days of signing the agreement to purchase 30 new aircraft.

Mohanna affirmed that the purchase asserts the company's endeavor to support growth with modern and efficient operational capabilities, equipped with the latest technology as part of the strategy for growth and expansion under the slogan "We Connect the World to the Kingdom."

The CEO noted that the increase in the fleet size by adding more A320neo next-generation aircraft indicates the commitment to maintaining the position regionally and globally.

Skytrax, the international air transport rating organization, announced flynas as the 4th Best Low-Cost Airline in the World and kept its leading position as the Best LCC in the Middle East for 2023, for the sixth time in a row.

Last year, flynas' board of directors agreed to increase its orders to 250 new aircraft, making the Saudi carrier the largest budget carrier in the Middle East and North Africa.

The A320neo is a single-aisle aircraft popular with airlines for its fuel efficiency and low operating costs, reinforcing flynas' sustainability and environmental protection.

Flynas currently connects more than 70 domestic and international destinations, with more than 1,500 weekly flights.

Since its establishment in 2007, flynas has transported more than 60 million passengers and aims to reach 165 domestic and international destinations, in line with Vision 2030.

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China Launches Late Stimulus Push to Meet 2024 Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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China Launches Late Stimulus Push to Meet 2024 Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

China's central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system as Beijing assembled a last-ditch stimulus assault to pull economic growth back towards this year's roughly 5% target, Reuters reported.
More fiscal measures are expected to be announced before China's week-long holidays starting on Oct. 1, after a meeting of the Communist Party's top leaders showed an increased sense of urgency about mounting economic headwinds.
On the heels of the Politburo huddle, China plans to issue special sovereign bonds worth about 2 trillion yuan ($284.43 billion) this year as part of fresh fiscal stimulus, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
Capital Economics chief Asia Economist Mark Williams estimates the package "would lift annual output by 0.4% relative to what it would otherwise have been."
"It's late in the year, but a new package of this size that was implemented soon should be enough to deliver growth in line with the 'around 5%' target," he said.
Chinese stocks are on track for the best week since 2008 on stimulus expectations.
The world's second-largest economy faces strong deflationary pressures due to a sharp property market downturn and frail consumer confidence, which have exposed its over-reliance on exports in an increasingly tense global trade environment.
A wide range of economic data in recent months has missed forecasts, raising concerns among economists that the growth target was at risk and that a longer-term structural slowdown could be in play.
On Friday, data showed industrial profits swinging back to a sharp contraction in August.
"We believe the persistent growth weakness has hit policymakers' pain threshold," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
As flagged on Tuesday by Governor Pan Gongsheng, the People's Bank of China on Friday trimmed the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, known as the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), by 50 basis points, the second such reduction this year.
The move is expected to release 1 trillion yuan ($142.5 billion) in liquidity into the banking system and was accompanied by a cut in the benchmark interest rate on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by 20 bps to 1.50%. The cuts take effect on Friday and Pan, in rare forward-looking remarks, left the door open to another RRR reduction later this year.

Given weak credit demand from households and businesses, investors are more focused on the fiscal measures that are widely expected to be announced in coming days.
Reuters reported on Thursday that 1 trillion yuan due to be raised via special bonds will be used to increase subsidies for a consumer goods replacement program and for the upgrade of large-scale business equipment.
They will also be used to provide a monthly allowance of about 800 yuan, or $114, per child to all households with two or more children, excluding the first child.
China aims to raise another 1 trillion yuan via a separate special sovereign debt issuance to help local governments tackle their debt problems.
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that China is also considering the injection up to 1 trillion yuan of capital into its biggest state banks.
Most of China's fiscal stimulus still goes into investment, but returns are dwindling and the spending has saddled local governments with $13 trillion in debt.
The looming fiscal measures would mark a slight shift towards stimulating consumption, a direction Beijing has said for more than a decade that it wants to take but has made little progress on.
China's household spending is less than 40% of annual economic output, some 20 percentage points below the global average. Investment, by comparison, is 20 points above but has been fueling much more debt than growth.
The politburo also pledged to stabilize the troubled real estate market, saying the government should expand a white list of housing projects that can receive further financing and revitalize idle land.
The September meeting is not usually a forum for discussing the economy, which suggests growing anxiety among officials.
"The 'shock and awe' strategy could be meant to jumpstart the markets and boost confidence," Nomura analysts said in a note.
"But eventually it is still necessary for Beijing to introduce well thought policies to address many of the deep-rooted problems, particularly regarding how to stabilize the property sector."