flyadeal

In Europe flyadeal is still an unknown quantity for many spotters. In Saudi Arabia the airline has long been part of everyday life: on the domestic routes between Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam it flies side by side with its parent Saudia. flyadeal is interesting to you for two reasons. The fleet consists only of the Airbus A320 family, the switch from ceo to neo is in full swing, and with the first widebody jets a new chapter is coming. Here you learn how to place flyadeal cleanly and where to get it in front of your lens.

flyadeal at a glance

flyadeal is the low-cost airline of the Saudia Group and is based in Jeddah. The brand was announced on April 17, 2016, by its parent Saudia. With its own budget brand the group can address price-conscious travelers while Saudia itself operates as a network airline.

The first scheduled flight took off on September 23, 2017, Saudi National Day, on the country’s most important domestic route: from Jeddah to Riyadh. At the start flyadeal used first-generation Airbus A320-200s. From there the network grew step by step across the country and, from 2022, abroad.

The airline operates from three bases: Jeddah (JED), Riyadh (RUH) and Dammam (DMM). There is no hub in the classic sense with connecting waves. Like other budget carriers, flyadeal relies on point-to-point connections. How this model works and why a uniform fleet is so important is explained in the article How low-cost carriers work.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code F3: appears in the flight number, so on the ticket, the departure board and in schedules.
• ICAO code FAD: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign ADEAL: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

The IATA code F3 contains a digit, which sometimes puzzles beginners. That is perfectly normal: because two-character codes are scarce, IATA has long been issuing combinations of a letter and a digit too. For spotters the three-letter ICAO code is clearer anyway. How to read tracker data correctly is shown in the guide to flight tracking for spotters.

The fleet: a pure A320 family

The fleet is as uniform as befits a budget carrier. According to the available fleet overviews, it looked roughly like this in 2025. The exact numbers change constantly because new aircraft arrive and older ones go back to lessors.

Type	Count (as of 2025)	Seats	Spotter note
Airbus A320ceo	about 11	186	The 2017 launch fleet, smaller engines
Airbus A320neo	about 30	186	First aircraft in August 2020, now the backbone
Airbus A321neo	on order	still open	Longer version, deliveries from the 2024 group order
Airbus A330-900	10 on order	still open	First widebody jet, delivery planned from 2027

Airbus itself cited a fleet of 37 A320 family aircraft in April 2025, and later overviews came to a good 40. That shows how quickly the fleet is growing right now. The manufacturer of all types is Airbus.

The A320neo is the workhorse. The first aircraft, leased from Avolon, landed in Jeddah in August 2020 and carries the registration HZ-FAL. Alongside it, first-generation A320ceos keep flying. The A321neo is where it gets interesting: in May 2024 the Saudia Group ordered a total of 105 aircraft of the A320neo family, part of them earmarked for flyadeal, including the longer A321neo. According to fleet overviews, the first A321neos are planned from 2026.

At times flyadeal has additionally used widebody aircraft from other airlines, complete with crews, according to fleet overviews, such as an A330-300 from Air Anka and a Boeing 777-300 from Alexandria Airlines. Such aircraft often do not wear the flyadeal livery. What is behind this model is explained in the article on wet leasing.

From the 737 MAX to the A320neo

One detail makes flyadeal especially interesting for fleet buffs: the airline almost became a Boeing operator. flyadeal had initially committed to taking 30 Boeing 737 MAXs with options on 20 more but never made the order firm. Then came the worldwide MAX grounding in March 2019. In July 2019 flyadeal opted instead for 30 A320neos with options on 20 more.

For you as a spotter that means: there is no flyadeal 737. If a Boeing shows up on the tracker under FAD, it is very likely a chartered-in aircraft from another airline, such as a 777 on a wet lease.

The step to long-haul: A330-900

In April 2025 the Saudia Group announced an order for 10 Airbus A330-900s for flyadeal at Airbus in Toulouse. It is the airline’s first widebody order of its own. According to Airbus, the jets are meant to enable new, longer routes; like every A330neo they are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000s. Delivery is planned from 2027.

How the A330-900 will be painted and configured at flyadeal is not officially known as of October 2026. What is clear: a low-cost A330neo from Saudi Arabia will be a new subject at European airports.

A320ceo or A320neo? How to tell them apart

Both versions fly at flyadeal with 186 seats and in the same livery. A few details still reveal the generation. The article A320neo or ceo? provides more background.

The sharklets at the wingtips do not help you at flyadeal: many A320ceos were also delivered with them. So watch the engines, which you can also see well from the side on approach.

How to recognize flyadeal

The name “flyadeal” appears on the fuselage in lowercase and written as one word. That sets it clearly apart from the titles of its parent Saudia.

For identification, though, you are better off relying on hard features:

How Saudi registrations and aircraft registrations in general are structured is explained in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

Route network: domestic first, then the Gulf region and Europe

flyadeal’s backbone is Saudi domestic traffic. Besides the bases in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, the airline serves numerous regional airports, including Abha, Medina, Tabuk, Taif, Jazan and Neom. The first international route followed only in June 2022, from Dammam to Cairo.

Since then the international network has grown considerably:

• Gulf region and Middle East: Dubai and Amman. Since June 2024 flyadeal has also flown from Riyadh to Dubai World Central.
• Caucasus: Baku and Tbilisi.
• Egypt: Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh.
• Turkey: Istanbul since November 2022 from Jeddah and Riyadh, plus seasonal destinations such as Antalya, Bodrum and Trabzon.
• Europe: Sarajevo and Larnaca, and in summer 2026 (July to September) also Milan Bergamo from Riyadh.
• Asia and Africa: among others Karachi, Lahore, Kolkata, Tashkent, Makassar and, partly only seasonally, Kano, Niamey and N’Djamena.

The network changes quickly, and many routes run only seasonally. So always check the current schedule before planning.

Spotting flyadeal: where and how

In Saudi Arabia you see flyadeal most often in Jeddah and Riyadh. There it often stands next to Saudia and flynas, and in Riyadh also next to the new Riyadh Air. Find out in advance exactly which rules apply to photography at airports locally, and observe barriers and staff instructions.

In the Gulf region Dubai is the obvious place. At Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central Airport, low-cost airlines from across the region come together, including flydubai and Air Arabia. You find tips for the spots in the guide Plane spotting in Dubai.

In Europe Istanbul and the seasonal destinations are the best bets. At Istanbul Airport flyadeal has been a regular guest since 2022. How to go about it there is shown in Plane spotting in Istanbul. Seasonal additions recently included destinations such as Milan Bergamo Airport, and Larnaca Airport is also in the network.

flyadeal in the Saudi market

Saudi Arabia is expanding its air travel strongly under Vision 2030. flyadeal is the budget brand of the state-owned group and competes directly with the private flynas, which also relies on the A320 family. With Riyadh Air a new network airline from Riyadh is joining as well. How the big Gulf airlines built their business is covered in the article on the business model of Gulf airlines.

For spotters this makes an exciting mix: domestically three A320 operators fly side by side, and all of them are growing their neo fleets. If you can reliably tell the airlines and generations apart, you have a clear advantage in Jeddah or Riyadh.

Common mix-ups

• Mixing up flyadeal and Saudia – both fly the A320 family with HZ- registrations; titles and ICAO code (FAD or SVA) decide.
• Mixing up flyadeal and flynas – flynas is an independent private airline with the ICAO code KNE.
• Taking F3 for a typo – IATA codes with a digit are normal.
• Taking every A320 for a neo – flyadeal still flies A320ceos. The engines reveal the generation.
• Taking a Boeing under FAD for a flyadeal aircraft – flyadeal operates no Boeing itself; it is almost always a chartered-in aircraft.
• Assigning codeshare flights incorrectly – an SV flight from Dammam may be operated by flyadeal.

Conclusion

flyadeal is a young airline with a clear profile: budget subsidiary of Saudia, a pure Airbus A320 family and a network that reaches ever further into the region from Saudi Arabia and seasonally to Europe. It is exciting right now because the fleet is in transition. The original A320ceos fly alongside a growing neo fleet, the A321neo is joining, and with the A330-900 the first widebody jet is on the way.