APEX EXPO 2025: How Saudia & flyadeal’s Differing Strategies Advance Saudia Group’s Goals for Vision 2030
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Both Saudia and flyadeal share the same mission: To bring the world to Saudi Arabia, and to bring Saudi Arabia to the world. The way they do so, however, is completely different. This was something the pair explored together on stage in discussion with BBC News Anchor Ben Thompson at the 2025 APEX Global EXPO.
flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway said, “We’re the bus, they’re the luxury, and the more definition between those two, the better.” He explained this difference manifests itself in many ways, but used loyalty as an example: “We’ve just gone live with the Al Fursan Saudia loyalty program. You can earn and burn with Al Fursan on flyadeal, but we don’t recognize status. If [passengers] want lounge access they have to fly with Saudia.”
Furthermore, Greenway argued that as a low-cost carrier, flyadeal doesn’t use Net Promoter Scores to measure its success. “We’re never going to get 50, 60 or 70. That’s for full-service carriers. Our biggest driving factor is on-time performance.” Impressively, it was recognized by Cirium as the world’s most punctual airline in June 2025, with a 91.77% on-time arrival rate.
“You can earn and burn with Al Fursan on flyadeal, but we don’t recognize status.”
– Stephen Greenway, flyadeal
Meanwhile, Saudia Chief Guest Experience Officer Rossen Dimitrov told delegates that his airline’s job is to show the world what Saudi hospitality is all about. It is doing so by investing in all customer touchpoints from “cabin interiors to hard and soft product, lounges, the check-in experience; and what we do onboard in terms of service, like our catering and crew.”
Dmitrov said that although the carrier is undergoing a period of huge change, the passenger experience across Saudia should be aligned on the hard product by the end of 2026, with its current fleet undergoing retrofits and its new cabins being delivered on its Airbus A321XLRs and Boeing 787s.
He noted that the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 initiative, which hopes to bring 100 million tourists to Saudi Arabia each year, has been helpful, as it required a very clear strategy. “Some of the items we have identified in our strategy that were due to be delivered in 2028-2029 we’re already delivering today, both in terms of digital transformation and the technology that we’re bringing on board.”
“Some items […] due to be delivered in 2028-2029 we’re already delivering today.”
– Rossen Dmitrov, Saudia
This sustained effort is generating tangible results. Saudia is currently one of ten APEX World Class airlines across the globe, and ranked number 17 globally by SkyTrax.
Both Dmitrov and Greenway attribute the success of their respective carriers to Saudia Group’s Director General. Dmitrov shared, “When I say to him, ‘I have an idea, why don’t we do A, B, C,’ he says, ‘Why aren’t we doing it already? Have I stopped you?”
“[People] can criticize 2030 and say, ‘Oh, it’s just too ambitious.’ I always say, even if we achieve half of it, it’s phenomenal,” Greenway added. “To have someone in our industry support you however you want, you don’t find that in any other part of the world.”
Greenway discussed flyadeal’s strategy in further detail during a presentation on its journey “From Startup to Standout.”