United Arab Emirates (UAE)–based RAK Airways is to introduce new links from Ras Al Khaimah to the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Peshawar in November. This growth will see the carrier’s network expand to eight destinations adding to its existing links to Cairo, Chittagong, Dhaka, Doha, Jeddah and Kozhikode.
The airline will offer a twice weekly service on the two routes and its Chief Executive Officer Omar Jahameh said the two destinations had been strategically chosen due to the high demand between Pakistan and the UAE. “The volume of foreign trade between the UAE and Pakistan amounted to $2.86bn last year, at a growth rate of 9 per cent,” he explained.
An estimated 2.2 million O&D passengers travelled between Pakistan and the UAE in the past year, up 9.2 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Around 479,000 O&D passengers are estimated to have flown from UAE to Lahore and around 413,000 to Peshawar in that period. Lahore and Peshawar are already linked to Abu Dhabi and Dubai by Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Pakistan International Airlines and Shaheen International Airlines, while the latter and Air Arabia also serve Peshawar from Sharjah.
“With flights to Lahore, the country's second largest city and Peshawar, a major commercial hub, passengers can capitalise on the latent opportunities for trade that exist between the two countries. Furthermore, we will provide the UAE's Pakistani community with increased connections to travel home," added Jahameh.
RAK Airways is now celebrating the first anniversary of its relaunch. The carrier initially started operations in early 2007 but suspended flights, resuming services in October 2010. It is now planning to further expand its network and develop direct links around the Middle East and Gulf regions from Ras Al Khamaih, enabling passengers to avoid surface transportation to Sharjah or Dubai to fly overseas.
The entry into the Pakistan market has been made possible by the arrival of a third Airbus A320 and the carrier plans to grow to a fleet of ten aircraft by 2015. Its network strategy is aligned to the huge expatriate work force within the Middle East and the growing leisure and business traffic between Middle East and other countries.
“In keeping with the strategy of balancing the network with routes that have both business and leisure to the UAE as well as to other network destinations, the airline will open up services to four destinations during winter 2011,” Rajendran Vellapalath, Vice President Corporate Strategy and Planning, RAK Airways confirmed to The HUB at last week’s World Routes forum in Berlin, Germany.
“With the ambitious growth plans for Ras Al Khaimah and the Northern Emirates catchment area, especially from a tourism and business development, RAK Airways plans to serve up to 35 destinations by 2015 all within a five-hour radius,” Vellapalath added.
There is one major issue that is impacting its development and that is the current bilateral agreements that the UAE has with foreign countries. As the UAE now has a growing number of airline’s, including Air Arabia (Sharjah), Emirates Airline (Dubai), Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) and flydubai (Dubai), RAK Airways is finding it difficult to secure traffic rights to some destinations.
“RAK Airways, being the youngest on the block, is always restricted with its expansion as the majority of the bilateral permissions have already been used by other carriers,” explained Vellapalath.
One way around this is for RAK Airways to develop alliances or partnerships with local or international partners and Vellapalath confirmed that these would form a cornerstone of the growth plans for the airline. “Unlike the majority of the Middle Eastern carriers, RAK Airways is open to seizing any opportunity that suits its business requirements,” he said.
Related Content
