flynas

Is flynas safe?

Yes, on its own record. flynas, Saudi Arabia's largest low-cost airline, has never had a fatal accident or written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary an aircraft, and more than nine in ten of its jets are A320neos. We score it 83. The points it loses come from where it flies more than how: in October 2026 Houthi strikes hit two of its airports, Abha and its Riyadh hub, and in April 2024 one of its A320neos ran off the runway at Riyadh after an unstable approach.

flynas's accident record

The Aviation Safety Network database lists no hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary and no fatal accident in flynas service. Its only fatal entry is an event we do not count: on 29 October 2024 a passenger fell on the stairs while leaving a Lion Air A330 that was flying pilgrims from Surabaya to Madinah for flynas, and died of the injuries. Under ICAO Annex 13 a fall like this, from a parked aircraft and not caused by its operation, is not an aircraft accident death, and the aircraft and crew were Lion Air's in any case.

That leaves one event that deserves attention. On 28 April 2024 flight XY224, an Airbus A320neo from Doha, landed on runway 15L at Riyadh as a thunderstorm and blowing dust passed over the airport, with visibility down to about 1,000 metres and gusts of 30 knots. It veered right, crossed the runway edge at about 75 knots, ran across soft ground and stopped on a taxiway some 400 metres from the runway. No one was hurt and the damage was minor. Saudi Arabia's investigators rated it a serious incident and said the approach had been unsafe and unstabilised. An unstable approach should end in a go-around, and that is the lesson here.

Engine failures

Three flynas A320neos have shut down an engine in flight since 2023, all landing safely:

• 9 February 2023, Dubai. A LEAP engine failed in the climb towards Jeddah with 147 people on board; the aircraft returned to Dubai.
• 6 September 2023, Trabzon. The right engine banged and streamed flames in the climb towards Jeddah; the crew shut it down and returned.
• 24 August 2025, Trabzon. The same route again: the crew stopped the climb at 10,000 feet after a LEAP engine failed and returned to Trabzon with 169 people on board.

An engine failure on a twin-engine jet is a serious but trained-for event, and in each case the crew handled it as designed. Older reports describe panels dropping off flynas A320s in 2015 and 2018 and a loss of cabin pressure at 33,000 feet in 2018. We found no fines or groundings by GACA.

The 2026 conflict and Saudi airspace

This is the weakest part of the score. Iran has fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia since March 2026, and the Houthis in Yemen have attacked southern and western cities since July. On 30 September EASA told European airlines not to fly at any height over part of the Jeddah flight region and to take care in the rest. Then the attacks reached airports: according to GACA, strikes on Abha on 6 October and on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on 7 October killed three people and injured 36. Both airports are on the flynas network, and Riyadh is its main base.

These were attacks on airports, not on flynas aircraft, and they do not count in the accident record. But they make the operating environment harder than that of Air Arabia or European low-cost airlines, and they mean flights can be cancelled or diverted at short notice. See our Saudi Arabia travel page for the wider situation and current advisories.

Saudi airports also bring more ordinary challenges: summer dust storms that cut visibility in minutes, as at Riyadh in 2024, and the Hajj and Umrah peaks, when Jeddah and Madinah handle huge numbers of pilgrims in a few weeks.

What does flynas fly?

On 18 August 2026 flynas had 68 Airbus aircraft: 62 A320neos, four older A320ceos and two A330s. New-generation jets make up more than 90% of the fleet. It has A320neo family and A330neo aircraft on order, the wide-bodies largely for pilgrim traffic.

In pilgrimage seasons flynas has leased extra aircraft with their crews from other airlines, including Lion Air A330s. Those flights fly under the lessor's certificate, so check "operated by" on your booking if it matters to you.

Who oversees flynas?

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) certifies flynas. Saudi Arabia holds FAA IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary Category 1, no Saudi airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, and flynas is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary as an IATA member. Saudi Arabia's National Transportation Safety Center investigates accidents and serious incidents, but publishes far less than European boards, which is one reason our confidence is medium.

Flying flynas: practical points

• Check the airport before you leave for it. In October 2026 Abha and Riyadh airports were hit by drones and missiles. Follow GACA and airline announcements on the day.
• Read "operated by" in Hajj and Umrah season. A wet-leased aircraft flies under another airline's safety record.
• Be patient with dust-storm diversions. At Riyadh in 2024 the risk came from pressing on with a landing in blowing dust; a hold or diversion is the safer choice.

How we scored it

A clean accident record (92) and a young A320neo fleet (90) carry the score, with FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary oversight and IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary at 84. The 2024 Riyadh excursion and the run of engine failures keep incidents at 72, and the 2026 attacks on Saudi airports pull the environment down to 50. Overall 83, above Saudia (75) and flydubai (73), and a point below Air Arabia (84).