How the CEO of flyadeal maintains a digital lead

At World Aviation Festival, Steven Greenway, CEO of flyadeal joined for a brief conversation on the airline's ambitious growth plans, balancing digitalisation with legacy systems, the importance of continuous digital evolution, and alignment with Saudi Vision 2030.

flyadeal is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's youngest airline and has risen to become one of the fastest growing low-cost carriers (LCCs) in the Middle East. The airline is "born from a different perspective" and is the sister airline of full-service Saudi national flag carrier Saudia.

Having launched in 2017 as a digital airline, Greenway described flyadeal's ongoing commitment to the digitalisation process:

"I think?digitalisation never stops. Just because you're born a digital airline, doesn't mean that you stop at that point, it's been a constant process of reinvention [...] I think the best way to describe it is an ongoing journey, chipping away at a lot of different things to be able to keep that edge."

Greenway highlighted the extent of flyadeal's digitalisation efforts, spanning from front end services to operational processes like crew rosters and cockpit management. Emphasising the importance of innovative technology, Greenway remarked "without it, we'd be dead in the water."

Watch the full interview below to learn how the airline's mobile app will achieve 99 per cent functionality, how flyadeal navigates legacy systems that are a "necessary evil," and how it contributes to Vision 2030 goals.

Questions asked include:

1. flyadeal launched in 2017 as a digital airline. Since then, how have your digitalisation efforts evolved and how has this translated into tangible benefits?
2. With plans to grow your network three-fold by 2030, what role does technology play in supporting your ambitious targets?
3. How does your model align with Saudi Vision 2030 and what can we expect from you in the next few years aside from these dramatic growth plans?

For more from onsite at World Aviation Festival 2024 see:

• Walsh and Neeleman clash over sustainability in keynote CEO panel
• How DXB CEO Paul Griffiths plans to change passenger experience
• Marjan Rintel: Automation, AI, and data at KLM