What Happened to the Flynas Boeing 747's of Saudi Arabia?

 

With airlines slowly phasing out the 4-engine winged aircraft's, What did the low-cost Saudi airline, Flynas manage to do with its five Boeing 747-400 jets?

Before we ponder on to the main topic, let us look at the history of the airline, Flynas.

Flynas History 

Formerly known as Nas Air, is the country's first low-cost carrier. With King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh base being its headquarters, the airline currently operates a fleet of 36 aircraft ranging from Airbus A319, A320, A320 Neo, and the A321XLR.

Moreover, having an extensive domestic network across Saudi Arabia, Flynas also serves international destinations to Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates

 Furthermore, the airline in 2017 also ordered a whopping 80 Airbus A320Neo family jets,  making them the first Saudi airline to receive the Airbus A320 Neo. Besides being partly owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding, the airline additionally seen substantial growth in the past, catering to over 3 million passengers in the first half of 2018.

The Flynas on-time performance and excellent customer service, also managed the airline to earn several awards such as the Middle East Low-Cost Airline of World Travel Awards and also the Skytrax Award for Middle Easts Best Low-Cost Airline. 

ER-BAE of Flynas, formerly served in Virgin Atlantic from 2003-2016

Additionally, the low-cost carrier also signed an agreement with Airbus for 10 Airbus A321XLR, thereby helping them expand their network and add further support for longer-range flying. 

Where are The Flynas Boeing 747

With the rise of the world's pilgrimage, Flynas used nine of its Boeing 747-400s to ferry Muslim pilgrims from various airports in Asia, Africa, and Europe to the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah.

According to Airfleets, one Boeing 747-400 (ER-BAE) is stored, owing to covid, the remaining 4 (PK-LHG, 9M-ACM, ER-BAC, 9M-ACB) were leased back to their lessors.

Do you think Flynas will reinstate the remaining Boeing 747 back to their fleet?