RAK Airways Eyes 40 Routes

July 9, 2013
RAK Airways has planned to touch 40 international destinations by 2015 and add new aircraft in 2013 to support its expansion plan, president and chief executive officer Murabit Al Sawaf told Khaleej Times.

July 09--RAK Airways has planned to touch 40 international destinations by 2015 and add new aircraft in 2013 to support its expansion plan, president and chief executive officer Murabit Al Sawaf told Khaleej Times.

With a total fleet size of two aircraft, the national carrier of Ras Al Khaimah reaches total nine destinations that include Jeddah, Doha, Cairo, Lahore, Peshawar, Calicut, Dhaka, Chittagong, and Kathamndu. The full-service carrier's first destination was Calicut and is still strong in demand. Summer demand has also picked up on flights to Cairo, Kathmandu and Chittagong, according to the company.

"We have a plan to touch 40 destinations by 2015 and will make first route expansion announcement within five weeks for five new routes," Sawaf said. He declined to disclose the name of new routes, but it is expected that the carrier will add new cities within the countries it operates. "We have done a couple of studies for route expansion and the first five new routes is the result of those studies," he explained.

He mentioned that all options are open for fleet expansion and the airline will also make announcement for new aircraft soon. The carrier's both aircraft are Airbus A320. Two months ago, Vice-Chairman of RAK Airways Shaikh Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi told this scribe that the airline will get two new aircraft this year and expect to open more sectors and increased frequencies to existing routes.

Talking about the airline's first six months performance, Sawaf said: "We have seen nearly 40 per cent increase in passenger numbers over 2012." Growth in passenger numbers will be much more than the first half of 2013, he added.

Last year had been a very successful year for RAK Airways with passenger numbers having crossed 300,000 across the airline's network. The airline offers free shuttles from anywhere in the UAE to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. It offers free parking at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, 30 kg baggage and full meals onboard.

Sawaf said all nine routes are doing very well and during the first half of 2013, the airline increased its frequency to Dhaka, Peshawar and Lahore, from two weekly flights to three, to meet the growing demand into these destinations. Number of weekly flights to Jeddah increased from seven to ten.

The chief executive emphasised that RAK Airways plays a pivotal role in the growth and development of the Ras Al Khaimah. He said: "We are working to diversify the options to travel to Ras Al Khaimah, whether for business or tourism."

The emirate has a lot of tourist's facilities such as mountains, water sports, beaches, archaeological site, historical site, shopping, desert safaris and one of the biggest water parks in the region.

The emirate plans to open 10,000 new hotel rooms by 2016. It has around 3,000 hotel rooms and adding 2,000 more by the end of 2013. So there will be 5,000 total rooms in the next six months in the emirate.

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