flynas Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process
flynas, the Saudi low-cost airline, fills its First Officer seats through a program of its own: Future Pilots takes Saudi nationals who already hold a commercial pilot license and qualifies them to work as flynas First Officers, and by 2024 the program had made its co-pilot seat 100% Saudized (TradeArabia, 28 July 2026). At the last check, on 27 October 2026, the 2026 intake was in selection: the first-phase admission exam began on 12 September 2026, for the first 150 of 300 planned trainees, as flynas’ release showed in search results. For a pilot from abroad the door is the Captain seat, and we found it only through recruitment agencies: CAE Parc Aviation’s listing, undated in search results, asks for 5,000 hours, 2,000 of them in command on jets above 27,000 kg and 500 in command on the A320, so we could not confirm that flynas itself is taking Captain applications. flynas flies 68 Airbus aircraft (its release of August 2026, in search results) from six operations bases: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madinah, Abha and Al-Qassim.
Always confirm on the airline’s own careers page before applying. Every figure here is what the airline published at the date shown against it on our jobs board; entries marked Unconfirmed are ones whose requirements we found but whose current vacancy status we could not establish from the airline’s own pages. Vacancies open and close without notice.
Is flynas hiring pilots now?
Unconfirmed at the last check on 27 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Cadet route only; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. Saudi CPL holders join as First Officers through the Future Pilots program (2026 intake in selection); A320 Captains through an agency: 5,000 h, 2,000 h in command on jets above 27 t and 500 h on the A320 (undated listing)
What we found at the last check: At the last check, on 27 October 2026, we could not read flynas’ careers pages. In search results, flynas’ own news pages showed its 2026 Future Pilots intake in selection, for Saudi nationals who already hold a commercial pilot license, with the first-phase admission exam from 12 September 2026; its A320 Captain listings appeared only through recruitment agencies and job boards, without dates, so we could not confirm that flynas itself is taking Captain applications.
How we checked
Re-checked on 27 October 2026 by the fact-checker. Downloaded by a GitHub runner on 27 October 2026 and read directly (tools/careers/src/flynas-flyadeal-2026-10-26/): Airbus’ release of 22 July 2026 (Farnborough: five more A330-900s and 20 more A321neos, a total commitment of 20 A330neos and 56 A321neos and 235 firm Airbus aircraft of an orderbook of 280; the fleet then 67 Airbus aircraft, two A330-300s, four A320ceos and 61 A320neos; the chief executive on flynas’ six operating bases); TradeArabia’s report of 28 July 2026 (up to 300 Saudi pilots by the end of 2027 through the Future Pilots program and employment-linked scholarships under the Wa’ed track; around 300 co-pilots produced by 2024 and the co-pilot seat 100% Saudized; training now to prepare Saudi pilots for every level, Captain included); GACA’s TFA form (archived copy, GACA_SAVS_OPS_F-61-101 V1.0 of 29 December 2022). AviationCV’s copy of the agency listing returned a bot check; flynas.com, cae.com, Flightdeckfriend and gaca.gov.sa could not be downloaded, and WebFetch fails from the sandbox (DNS). The reviewer’s searches of 27 October 2026 showed again: the release of 12 September 2026 (first-phase admission exam, 150 trainees first of 300); the March 2024 release (co-pilot seat 100% Saudi; 100 co-pilots to be accepted) and the 2024 intake’s terms; the January 2019 release (5,000 h, 2,000 h PIC on jets, 2,000 h PIC on the A320 family, an age of 58 at most); CAE Parc Aviation’s listing, undated, with the same terms as below; a second agency listing titled for flynas (Nobox and SG Aviation, AviationCV job 72725, 5,000 h and 2,000 h PIC on jets above 27,000 kg, a current A320 or A330 rating, simulator dates in June without a year), not used on the page; flynas’ release of 13 August 2026 (68 aircraft) and those of January 2026 (Abha, from 29 March 2026) and 9 June 2026 (Al-Qassim, from July 2026); GACA’s licensing page (Form 8710) and regulations page. The writer’s check of 26 October 2026 follows. Researched on 26 October 2026 from search-engine results only: flynas.com, gaca.gov.sa and the Internet Archive refused the sandbox (proxy, HTTP 403), WebFetch fails from it, and the writer may not dispatch deploy.yml’s fetch_url job. flynas’ own news pages, as search results showed them: the release of 12 September 2026 on the first-phase admission exam of the 2026 Future Pilots program (Saudi nationals holding a commercial pilot license, qualified to work as flynas First Officers; 150 trainees accepted first, of 300 planned; review of applications, then the exam, then further assessments); the release on the plan to qualify up to 300 Saudi pilots by the end of 2027 under the Waed track of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program (also reported by TradeArabia, 2026); the release of March 2024 on the exams of that year, saying the co-pilot seat was 100% Saudized after about 300 graduates and the Captain seat was next; the 2024 intake (240 h, 215 single-engine and 25 multi-engine, a GACA or ICAO-equivalent multi-engine land CPL/IR, a valid GACA first-class medical, an English test); the 2019 release “flynas Opens Employment Opportunities for Experienced Pilots” (5,000 h total with 2,000 h in command on jets and 2,000 h in command on the A320 family); the fleet release of August 2026 (68 aircraft: 62 A320neos, two A330s, four A320ceos); the releases on the Abha base (from 29 March 2026) and the Al-Qassim base (from July 2026). Airbus’ release of July 2026: five more A330-900s and 20 more A321neos firmed up. The A320 Captain campaign appeared only through recruitment agencies and job boards: CAE Parc Aviation’s listing (cae.com, job 28377; AviationCV copy, job 50432), with no date, for rated A320 Captains based in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah or Dammam: 5,000 h total, 500 h in command on the A320, 2,000 h in command on jets above 27,000 kg MTOW, last A320 flight within six months, a valid EASA, FAA or ICAO license, a Class 1 medical and ICAO English Level 4, on a three-year renewable contract with a 20-on/10-off commuting roster and housing, transport and Captain allowances; Flightdeckfriend’s listings “flynas A320 Rated Captains” (maximum age 58) and “flynas Non-Rated Captains” (A320/A321, Riyadh), with no date. Previous checks, on 21 September and 12 October 2026, were also from search results only; the “under 54”, “visa sponsored” and “type rating provided for non-rated Captains” lines they recorded from agencies’ copies (PilotsGlobal, Sigma Aviation Services) were not found again and are now among the points we could not confirm.
Requirements, as published
| Requirement | As published by the airline |
|---|---|
| License | Captain: a valid EASA, FAA or ICAO license (CAE Parc Aviation’s listing, undated). Future Pilots: a commercial pilot license (flynas, 12 September 2026); the 2024 intake asked for a GACA or ICAO-equivalent multi-engine land CPL with an instrument rating |
| Minimum hours | Captain, in CAE Parc Aviation’s undated listing: 5,000 h total, 2,000 h in command on jets above 27,000 kg MTOW and 500 h in command on the A320. Future Pilots: no 2026 figure published in what we could read; the 2024 intake asked for 240 h, 215 single-engine and 25 multi-engine |
| Type rating | Captain: the agency listing is for rated pilots, with 500 h in command on the A320 and the last A320 flight within six months; a job board also lists non-rated Captains, undated, with terms we could not read. Future Pilots: training to First Officer provided (terms not published) |
| Right to work | Not stated in the parts of the agency listing that search results showed; the Future Pilots program is for Saudi nationals |
| Medical | Class 1 (agency listing); the Future Pilots 2024 intake asked for a valid GACA first-class medical |
| English | ICAO Level 4 minimum (agency listing); the Future Pilots 2024 intake asked for an English proficiency test |
| Age | Not given in the agency listing; see what we could not confirm |
| Also | Captain listing (CAE Parc Aviation, undated): last flight on the A320 within the last six months. |
Reading the requirements line by line
flynas’ careers pages could not be read for this check, so the figures below are from flynas’ own news releases and a recruitment agency’s listing, as search results showed them on 27 October 2026, and from TradeArabia’s report of 28 July 2026, each with the date its source gives.
- Future Pilots: a license first. flynas’ release of 12 September 2026 describes the program as one for Saudi nationals who hold a commercial pilot license, qualifying them to work as flynas First Officers, and gives no hours figure. Its 2024 intake, in flynas’ release of that year, asked for 240 hours, 215 of them single-engine and 25 multi-engine, a GACA or ICAO-equivalent multi-engine land CPL with an instrument rating, a valid GACA first-class medical and an English proficiency test. flynas ties the program to the Waed track of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program and plans to qualify up to 300 Saudi pilots by the end of 2027 (TradeArabia, 28 July 2026).
- No First Officer seat from outside. In March 2024 flynas said its co-pilot seat was 100% Saudized and that it was turning to the Captain seat next; in July 2026 it said the program had produced around 300 co-pilots by 2024 and would now prepare Saudi pilots for every level, Captain included (TradeArabia, 28 July 2026). We found no flynas First Officer vacancy for pilots from abroad.
- 5,000 hours, counted by weight and by type. CAE Parc Aviation’s listing asks for 5,000 hours total time, at least 2,000 of them in command on jets with a maximum takeoff mass above 27,000 kg, and at least 500 in command on the A320, with your last A320 flight within the last six months, so time in command of lighter jets or turboprops counts only toward the total. flynas’ own call for experienced pilots of 2019, the only one on its site that we found, asked for the same 5,000 hours, with 2,000 in command on jets and 2,000 in command on the A320 family. Both sit far above ICAO’s floor for an airline transport pilot license, 1,500 hours as a pilot of airplanes (ICAO Annex 1, 2.6.3.1.1).
- The license, English and medical. The agency listing asks for a valid EASA, FAA or ICAO license, a Class 1 medical and ICAO English Level 4; what GACA asks of a foreign license is set out below.
- Contract and bases. The listing offers a three-year renewable contract, a commuting roster of 20 days on and 10 days off, and housing, transport and Captain allowances, with the crew base in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah or Dammam. It carries no date, so ask the agency whether these terms are current.
Entry routes
- Cadet Pilot Program — Saudi nationals: flynas’ “Future Pilots” program for holders of a commercial pilot license, trained as flynas First Officers; 2026 intake in selection (first-phase admission exam from 12 September 2026; 150 trainees accepted first, of 300 planned)
- Direct entry First Officer — no route found for pilots from outside: flynas said in March 2024 that its co-pilot seat was 100% Saudized
- Direct entry Captain A320, rated, through the recruitment agency CAE Parc Aviation (undated listing: 5,000 h, 500 h in command on the A320); a non-rated Captain listing on a job board, undated
flynas beside the other Saudi and Gulf airlines
flynas beside the three other Saudi airlines on our jobs board and Emirates, as recorded at each airline’s last check:
| Airline | Published minimum | Right to work | Status at last check |
|---|---|---|---|
| flynas | Capt: 5,000 h · 2,000 h PIC jet (agency) | Not stated · FO route for Saudi nationals | Unconfirmed (27 October 2026) |
| Saudia | 240 h cadet (25 h ME) | Saudi nationals (cadet) | Cadet only (20 October 2026) |
| Riyadh Air | 2,000 h multi-crew jet | Visa sponsored · Captains under 59 | Recruiting (17 October 2026) |
| flyadeal | Capt 4,000 h (2,000 PIC) · FO 1,500 h A320/330 (Sep 2026) | Saudi work permit · NTR for nationals (Sep 2026) | Recruiting (27 October 2026) |
| Emirates | 2,000 h FO (1,000 on type) · 7,000 h Capt | UAE visa sponsored | Recruiting (12 October 2026) |
Read each row with its date. On what we could find, a pilot from abroad looking for a Saudi First Officer seat will not find one at flynas, nor at Saudia, whose one pilot vacancy at its last check, on 20 October 2026, was its Cadet Program for Saudi nationals; Riyadh Air’s 787 First Officer posting asked for 2,000 hours on multi-crew jets, with visas sponsored, at its last check on 17 October 2026, and flyadeal’s portal still carried an A320 First Officer posting on 27 October 2026, whose terms search results last showed on 29 September 2026: 1,500 hours on the A320 or A330 family, with the rating. For the Captain seat, flyadeal’s posting, as search results showed it, asks for 4,000 hours with 2,000 in command and a current A320 rating, below the 5,000 hours of the agency listing for flynas, which asks for 500 hours in command on the A320 with the last flight on it within six months.
Selection process
- Future Pilots: review of the application against the program’s requirements (flynas, 12 September 2026)
- Future Pilots: first-phase admission exam, from 12 September 2026 for the 2026 intake
- Future Pilots: further assessment stages, by results and the program’s selection criteria
Flying in Saudi Arabia on a foreign license
For a pilot from abroad, the license comes before the first line flight with a Saudi airline. GACA, the General Authority of Civil Aviation, can issue a temporary flight authorization (TFA) to the holder of a pilot license from another ICAO member state, for pilot duties on aircraft of Saudi registry, under GACAR § 61.57. Its application form, in the version of 29 December 2022, asks for a current foreign license with the category, class, type and instrument ratings for the aircraft to be flown and English Language Proficiency at Level 4 or above; a valid foreign medical, Class 1 for a CPL or an ATPL; evidence that you have passed the KSA AIP knowledge test; a verification letter for the foreign license from GACA’s personnel licensing and evidence of a Saudi security clearance; and a cover letter and a certification from the operator. A TFA is valid for 30 days from issue unless suspended or revoked sooner, and you may apply for a 30-day extension while you still meet the rule; the form is not for a pilot who holds or has ever held a GACA certificate.
For a GACA license of your own, GACA lists a service, as search results showed it on 27 October 2026, for holders of a foreign license who want to validate it into a GACA license, applied for on its Form 8710, and its regulations page, in the same results, lists a document on the conversion of pilot licenses from ICAO member states, which we could not read. Under § 61.55 of GACAR Part 61 (version 7.0), the holder of a commercial license from another ICAO state can obtain a GACA Commercial Pilot License with a type rating by passing the type rating practical test and all the prescribed knowledge tests, while foreign ATPLs fall under the part’s Subpart G, which we have not read. The TFA form was read in an archived copy downloaded on 27 October 2026, and Part 61 in the archived copy read for our Saudia page on 20 October 2026.
Bases and fleet
Bases: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah, with Abha (announced in January 2026, from 29 March 2026) and Al-Qassim (announced in June 2026, from July 2026) as flynas’ fifth and sixth operations bases (flynas’ releases, as search results showed them on 27 October 2026); Airbus quoted flynas’ chief executive on its six operating bases on 22 July 2026 · Crew bases in CAE Parc Aviation’s undated Captain listing: Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah or Dammam
Fleet: 68 Airbus aircraft after an A320neo delivery: 62 A320neos, four A320ceos and two A330s (flynas’ release of 13 August 2026, as search results showed it on 27 October 2026); Airbus counted 67 on 22 July 2026: two A330-300s, four A320ceos and 61 A320neos · On order: A321neos and A330-900s; at the Farnborough Airshow on 22 July 2026 flynas agreed to buy five more A330-900s and 20 more A321neos, for a total commitment of 20 A330neos and 56 A321neos, and 235 firm Airbus aircraft in all (Airbus, 22 July 2026)
How to prepare
There are two doors, and each needs its own preparation. For the Future Pilots program, flynas’ release of 12 September 2026, as search results showed it, says it reviews each application against the program’s requirements before the admission exam, and does not say what the exam covers, so have your commercial pilot license, logbook and medical in order before you apply. Its 2024 intake, in flynas’ release of that year in the same results, asked for 240 hours, 25 of them multi-engine, a multi-engine CPL with an instrument rating, a GACA first-class medical and an English test: revise the theory with v1prep’s ATPL theory banks, and practice timed reasoning tasks for the assessments that follow the exam. For the Captain seat through the agency, its listing, as search results showed it, counts hours by weight and by type: total your command time on jets above 27,000 kg on a line of its own, then your command time on the A320, and check that your last A320 flight falls within the last six months. flynas flies only Airbus types, the A320ceo, A320neo and A330 (Airbus, 22 July 2026), so the A320 bank below is your type preparation, with the A320 interview set for the technical questions and the CRM interview set for the crew and command questions a Captain interview turns on; there is no A330 bank on v1prep. Then the license: GACA asks a foreign license holder for a pass in its KSA AIP knowledge test before it issues a temporary flight authorization, as set out above, and v1prep has no bank for that test, so prepare it from GACA’s own material.
flynas has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s pilot aptitude tests and airline simulator assessment. If you are applying for the left seat, the Library’s command upgrade covers selection for Captain and the command course, and A320 flight deck design philosophy is a place to start on the type; for the Future Pilots route, commercial and airline transport pilot licenses sets out the license you hold and the one you work toward. The other Saudi airlines are on flyadeal pilot requirements, Saudia pilot requirements and Riyadh Air pilot requirements, the region’s on our page of pilot jobs in the Middle East, and the command routes of other airlines on direct entry Captain jobs. Check flynas’ entry on the jobs board for the latest status.
What we could not confirm
- Researched on 26 and 27 October 2026 from search-engine results of the airline’s own news pages, recruitment agencies’ listings and industry job boards, and from downloaded copies of Airbus’ release of 22 July 2026, TradeArabia’s report of 28 July 2026 and GACA’s TFA form — not from a direct read of flynas’ careers pages. Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
- Whether flynas itself is taking Captain applications: the A320 Captain listings we found, from CAE Parc Aviation and job boards, carry no date, and none was on flynas’ own pages in search results
- The non-rated Captain stream and the type rating: a job board lists “flynas Non-Rated Captains”, undated, and an earlier check (21 September 2026) recorded the A320 rating as provided for non-rated Captains, from recruitment agencies’ copies; who pays, and any bond, we could not find
- Whether flynas sponsors the residence visa: an earlier check (21 September 2026) recorded it as sponsored, from recruitment agencies’ copies; the parts of the agency listing that search results showed on 26 and 27 October 2026 do not say
- The Captain age limit: an earlier check (21 September 2026) recorded under 54, from agencies’ copies; a job board’s undated listing for rated Captains, and flynas’ own call for experienced pilots of 2019 in search results, give 58
- The contract and pay: CAE Parc Aviation’s listing offers a three-year renewable contract, while a job board’s copy of it, in search results on 26 October 2026, listed the post as permanent; flynas publishes no pay in anything we could read
- The 2026 Future Pilots requirements (hours, age, license issuer, medical) and its closing date: flynas’ release of 12 September 2026 says only that applicants hold a commercial pilot license; the 2024 intake asked for 240 h, 25 of them multi-engine
- How the suspension of operations at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport after the attacks of October 2026, recorded on our Riyadh Air entry, and the reopening that headlines on TradeArabia’s and Gulf News’ sites reported on 27 October 2026 (partial, in TradeArabia’s) affect flynas’ Riyadh base, its flying and its pilot recruitment: we did not check this on flynas’ own pages
These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.
Common questions
Is flynas hiring pilots? Through its Future Pilots program, for Saudi nationals with a commercial pilot license: at the last check, on 27 October 2026, flynas’ release of 12 September 2026, as search results showed it, said the first-phase admission exam of the 2026 intake had begun, for the first 150 of 300 planned trainees. For Captains we found only undated listings from recruitment agencies, among them CAE Parc Aviation, and job boards’ copies, none on flynas’ own pages, so whether flynas itself is taking Captain applications is unconfirmed. Check flynas’ careers page before you apply.
Can foreign pilots fly for flynas? Not as First Officers, on what we could find: flynas said in March 2024 that its co-pilot seat was 100% Saudized, and its Future Pilots program is for Saudi nationals. The door for a pilot from abroad is the Captain seat, which we found only through recruitment agencies, among them CAE Parc Aviation, for rated A320 Captains based in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah or Dammam, in a listing that carries no date. Visa terms were not in the parts of the listing that search results showed on 27 October 2026, so ask before you apply.
How many hours do you need to fly for flynas? For the Captain seat, CAE Parc Aviation’s undated listing, as search results showed it on 27 October 2026, asks for 5,000 hours total, at least 2,000 in command on jets above 27,000 kg and at least 500 in command on the A320, with your last A320 flight within six months. For the Future Pilots program, flynas’ release of 12 September 2026 asks for a commercial pilot license and gives no hours figure; its 2024 intake asked for 240 hours, 25 of them multi-engine.
What is the flynas Future Pilots program? flynas’ program for Saudi nationals who already hold a commercial pilot license, which qualifies them to work as flynas First Officers. flynas links it to the Waed track of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program and plans to qualify up to 300 Saudi pilots by the end of 2027 (TradeArabia, 28 July 2026). For the 2026 intake it reviewed the applications against the requirements, then began a first-phase admission exam on 12 September 2026, with further assessments to follow, and plans to accept 150 trainees first (flynas’ release, as search results showed it on 27 October 2026).
How do pilots with a foreign license fly in Saudi Arabia? GACA can issue a temporary flight authorization to the holder of a license from another ICAO state who has never held a GACA certificate, for pilot duties on Saudi-registered aircraft, valid for 30 days with a possible 30-day extension. Its form asks for the ratings for the aircraft, English at Level 4 or above, a Class 1 medical, a pass in the KSA AIP knowledge test, a verification letter from GACA, a Saudi security clearance and the operator’s letters. For a GACA license of your own, GACA lists a service to validate a foreign license, applied for on its Form 8710 (as search results showed it on 27 October 2026), and GACAR Part 61 lets a foreign commercial license holder obtain a GACA Commercial Pilot License with a type rating by passing the type rating practical test and the prescribed knowledge tests.
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