(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s first and only budget airline, flynas, has suspended long-haul flights because profits on the routes did not meet expectations, chief executive Raja Azmi said on Tuesday.

“We had some issues from a financial standpoint in terms of the profitability of some of the routes…” Azmi told Reuters by telephone.

“We have taken a stand that we are suspending – not stopping – those routes for the moment and will relook at the whole situation again.” He added that he could not yet say when long-haul flights might resume.

A statement posted on the airline’s website said: “flynas has suspended all long-haul flight services on its Global Flight Routes Program, including all flights to London Gatwick.”

In April this year, flynas said its growth strategy would focus on developing long-haul flights to five or six new destinations including London, Manchester, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, using the Red Sea city of Jeddah as a hub.

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