United Arab Emirates (UAE) low-cost carrier Air Arabia is to inaugurate the first scheduled air services between the UAE and Kosovo. A twice weekly link between Sharjah International Airport and Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari will be introduced from November 22, 2012 and follows the signing of an air services memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo in Pristina on September 17, 2012.
The agreement to launch the new service is understood to have been finalised during the recent World Route Development Forum in Abu Dhabi. “By taking part and marking a significant impact at the World Summit we signed the inauguration of a new route between Pristina and Sharjah,” said an airport representative. “We are now directly linked to a beautiful and important part of the world and this will offer a major business opportunity by connecting the Republic of Kosovo and United Arab Emirates. The dual country agreement will lead Kosovo’s businesses positioning to a successful future.”
Air Arabia is in a period of rapid growth and has revealed plans in the past month to expand its network in Iraq and Kazakhstan. Now it is setting its course into the Balkan market, an area that it sees as a strong growth opportunity for its low-cost business.
“Ever since we began operations nine years ago, Air Arabia has prided itself on being an airline of firsts. We are pleased to become the first UAE carrier to offer a scheduled service to Kosovo,” said Adel Ali, Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia. “We are confident the launch of our first destination in the Balkan Peninsula will bring great benefits to the economic ties between the UAE and Kosovo and will support Air Arabia’s rapidly expanding network in Eastern Europe.”
This is not only Pristina’s first link to the UAE but will be its only direct service in to the Gulf region and the wider Middle East, although there are regular links from Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines (THY) to Istanbul’s two airports and from Corendon Airlines to Antalya. In 2011, an estimated 9,000 O&D passengers travelled between Pristina and the UAE.
This deal with Air Arabia represents a massive endorsement of the work to develop new air services into the Republic of Kosovo. “Air Arabia’s inaugural flight to Prishtina marks an important moment in the ever growing ties between the Republic of Kosovo and the United Arab Emirates. As the first UAE carrier to fly to Kosovo, Air Arabia is at the forefront of a significant trend, with the flow of goods, services and people between the two countries only likely to increase in the coming years,” said Gjonbalaj, Director General, Civil Aviation Authority in the Republic of Kosovo.
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