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Ashraf Lamloum knew he was taking a risk in 2016, when he opened a base in Jeddah and launched narrow-body flights under the Nesma Airlines brand.
The chief executive was taking advantage of the long-awaited liberalisation of domestic air transport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which had for years been dominated by just two airlines: flag-carrier Saudia and Flynas. Another two carriers – SaudiGulf and Flyadeal – were also granted licences around the same time.
From day one, Nesma KSA struggled to make a profit on the busy Jeddah to Riyadh trunk route...
