flynas Takes Delivery of 50th Jetliner Out of Order for 120 Airbus A320neo

flynas is moving ahead in its ambitious plan for growth, expansion, and increasing the fleet size - AFP
flynas is moving ahead in its ambitious plan for growth, expansion, and increasing the fleet size - AFP
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flynas Takes Delivery of 50th Jetliner Out of Order for 120 Airbus A320neo

flynas is moving ahead in its ambitious plan for growth, expansion, and increasing the fleet size - AFP
flynas is moving ahead in its ambitious plan for growth, expansion, and increasing the fleet size - AFP

flynas, the Saudi air carrier and the leading low-cost airline in the Middle East and the world, celebrated taking delivery of the 50th airplane out of a large order for Airbus A320neo jetliners at a reception held at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

The company is moving ahead in its ambitious plan for growth, expansion, and increasing the fleet size.
Taking delivery of the 50th aircraft comes within an order to purchase 120 A320neo aircraft from Airbus with a value exceeding 32 billion riyals, which was at the time the second-largest purchase of A320neo aircraft in the Middle East, as a strategic step for flynas, SPA reported.
The deal with Airbus was a strategic step for flynas, consolidating its position as a leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, and one of the top four low-cost carriers in the world. The company is moving forward in its ambitious plans to double the fleet size after its board of directors approved an increase in purchase orders to 250 aircraft. This is in line with flynas’ strategic plan -- “We Connect the World to the Kingdom” -- in parallel with the National Civil Aviation Strategy to enable national air carriers to contribute to connecting Saudi Arabia with 250 international destinations and to accommodate 330 million passengers and to host 100 million tourists yearly by 2030.
In parallel with upscaling the flynas fleet, taking delivery of the new aircraft contributed to generating hundreds of quality jobs in the aviation sector, directly and indirectly. flynas recently announced the opening of applications in several programs, including the Future Pilots Program, Future Engineers Program, and the Cabin Crew Program for Saudi men and women.
This A320neo airplane is the third of its kind received by flynas since the beginning of 2024, and it is due to receive other batches of aircraft during the year, reinforcing flynas' commitment to sustainability and environmental protection. The A320neo is the most advanced, environmentally friendly, and fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft worldwide.
flynas connects more than 70 domestic and international destinations with more than 1,500 weekly flights and has flown more than 78 million passengers since its launch in 2007, with the aim to reach 165 domestic and international destinations.



US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.