Flynas

Both flights were delayed. The gates were never shown on the screens. The baggage took almost as long as the flight now, in fact I am weiting this and the baggage still has not shown up. The drive from Riyadh to Abha is about 8 hours. This flight took me over 9 hours now..

LGW-JED-RUH on April 26 2014. Business. FlyNas is the low cost carrier of Saudi Arabia and recently added intercontinental services and enhanced cabins to its range of domestic and regional routes. I flew from London Gatwick to Jeddah with a connecting flight to Riyadh. The aircraft had been full on arrival at London but the passenger load was very light returning to Jeddah. As a result the level of service was terrific with a high ratio of crew to customers on board a very clean and smart A330-200. Business passengers can use Fast Track at Gatwick and have access to the Aspire Lounge. The seats are angled lie flat and very comfortable for a six hour sector with large pillows provided. The on board entertainment was supplemented by iPads with new release movies pre-loaded. Fares on FlyNas are lower than the full service flag carriers when booked well in advance and this was reflected in the meals which were average served in economy size foil trays with none of the fuss or flourishes of the five star Gulf airlines. This was fine for the price paid. Saudi carriers do not serve alcohol but there was a good range of soft drinks. An afternoon tea was also served not long before landing. The Saudi experience apart from the customary reading and blessing at the beginning of the flight did not really begin until King Abdulaziz Airport because the aircraft and entire crew is Portuguese hired from HiFly. They worked very effectively in both English and Arabic and were hard-working and friendly. The connecting FlyNas flight to Riyadh was a very typical low-cost service on board an A321 fairly tight for space full to the brim with purchases available from the trolley. Seating is allocated and there is the option to buy extra leg room or a larger seat at the front of the cabin but flights between the main cities in Saudi Arabia are not longer than a couple of hours so a standard seat was fine.

RUH-JED. Check in at Riyadh Airport was ok staff helpful boarding pass says a certain gate however the screen stated another gate. Flight delayed almost 45 minutes but were not informed screen was still showing on time. Plane was ok looked a bit tired crew seemed helpful. Seats looked old I don't like the leather seats but it seems a Saudi way of expressing luxury. It is a pay for service airline so didn't expect much space between rows is narrow and I felt the seat itself is smaller than regular airlines was not really comfortable but for a short flight was ok. Upon arriving in Jeddah couldn't find the belt for luggage however we finally found it but with a different airline logo and different destination.

RUH-JED return. Check in a breeze no queues staff efficient but a few smiles would not go astray. Boarding quick new A320 with 29-30" pitch. Interior clean new looking pay for service was good value if not limited. Flight on time and bags on the belt within 5-10 minutes. Both flights full and cheep and cheerful at only 390 riyal about 70 euro - cannot go wrong with this service especially with no hidden extras (bags go free no issue with hand luggage etc). One negative was the safety on landing but I think it s just a middle east thing - why do passengers get up and start taking bags etc from the bins when the pilot has not turned of the seat belt sign at the stand? Cabin crew do not ask people to sit down.

RUH-JED. Another good flight with Nas Air. The flight left on time was not too crowded and an emergency-exit seat was definitely appreciated. The Arab and Eastern European cabin crew made an effort to seat us comfortably serve promptly collect rubbish and smile throughout. While the plane was old (it seemed to be a second-hand ex-Spanish Airbus) it didn't have the tired feeling of many other discount carriers.

RUH-JED. Flight cancelled before hand but only told when arrived at the airport at 5am for 6.45am departure. Promised seats on 10am flight but refused to check us in when we tried at 9am as there were "no seats" customer service policy seems to be to lie and then go off duty and let someone else sort it out! Rude and clearly incompetent not sure they know how to run an airline.

JED-RUH with one of the new Saudi discount carriers Nas Air. I had booked a super-cheap airfare for about USD $30; unfortunately I did not read the fine print and after the cab driver taking me to the wrong terminal at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah I ended up being five minutes late for the 45 minute boarding time... and Nas has a strict 'on-time' policy. I was a bit annoyed that five minutes seemed to make the difference between my getting the flight and not but I guess I agree with the rule in general. As a result I ended up having to return to my hotel in Jeddah for another night and booking another flight the next day. This one wasn't so cheap - but still quite reasonable at about USD $90. When I finally did fly I thought the airline was good for the price. The older Airbus 320 needed a new fit-out; the seats were tatty and overall the cabin looked quite old. The seat pitch was very bad but I have experienced that on other discount carriers like Jet2 and easyJet so I expect that. The stewardesses seemed to take forever to get to me with their drinks and snacks cart (all for purchase) but then seemed to whizz past a whole few rows without even offering us anything to eat or drink! Very odd. Luckily I caught them on the way back. The stewardesses otherwise were reasonably friendly I have flown Saudia before and thought that Nas Air attendants were nicer. The level of English of one of them wasn't so good but I noticed that they were Arabic speakers - which I don't think is the case with Saudia. All in all I thought that the airline was okay - I would fly them again for the price they are charging.

JED-RUH with one of the new Saudi discount carriers Nas Air. I had booked a super-cheap airfare for about USD $30; unfortunately I did not read the fine print and after the cab driver taking me to the wrong terminal at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah I ended up being five minutes late for the 45 minute boarding time... and Nas has a strict 'on-time' policy. I was a bit annoyed that five minutes seemed to make the difference between my getting the flight and not but I guess I agree with the rule in general. As a result I ended up having to return to my hotel in Jeddah for another night and booking another flight the next day. This one wasn't so cheap - but still quite reasonable at about USD $90. When I finally did fly I thought the airline was good for the price. The older Airbus 320 needed a new fit-out; the seats were tatty and overall the cabin looked quite old. The seat pitch was very bad but I have experienced that on other discount carriers like Jet2 and easyJet so I expect that. The stewardesses seemed to take forever to get to me with their drinks and snacks cart (all for purchase) but then seemed to whizz past a whole few rows without even offering us anything to eat or drink! Very odd. Luckily I caught them on the way back. The stewardesses otherwise were reasonably friendly I have flown Saudia before and thought that Nas Air attendants were nicer. The level of English of one of them wasn't so good but I noticed that they were Arabic speakers - which I don't think is the case with Saudia. All in all I thought that the airline was okay - I would fly them again for the price they are charging.