Aug. 07--RAK Airways has launched its first flight to Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
The flight departed from Ras Al Khaimah International Airport with 150 passengers on Monday at 20:30 hours UAE local time.
The airline has also announced another scheduled launch into Amman and the expansion of its current fleet.
Before the flight took off, Shaikh Omar bin Saqr Al Qassimi, chairman of RAK Airways, with Murabit Al Sawaf, president and CEO of the airline, together cut the ceremonial cake at Ras Al Khaimah Airport.
The new launch comes as part of the airline's ambitious growth plans. At a Press briefing, Al Sawaf revealed RAK Airways' ambitious growth plans of flying to 40 destinations by 2015.
Islamabad is RAK Airways' third entry point into Pakistan. In 2011, the airline made its first entry into Pakistan with two-weekly flights to Lahore and Peshawar. In the first half of 2013, the airline increased its frequency to Lahore and Peshawar from two to three flights a week to meet passenger demand.
Speaking of the airline's first destination launch in 2013, Al Sawaf said: "This is our first entry into the capital of Pakistan and we are proud to say that our bookings on our weekly two flights look very encouraging. We are aspiring to see a significant rising curve of our passenger numbers with the Islamabad launch."
With the introduction of Islamabad, RAK Airways, the full service carrier flying out of Ras Al Khaimah, has spread its route map to 10 destinations -- Jeddah, Doha, Chittagong, Dhakka, Peshawar, Lahore, Kathmandu, Cairo, Calicut and Islamabad.
The airline recorded more than 300,000 passengers in 2012 and increased its passenger strength in the first half of 2013 by 40 per cent.
Copyright 2013 - Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
