RAK Airways expands Saudi network

RAK Airways will start flying to Dammam and Najaf by the first half of November, airline sources confirmed on Sunday.

RAK Airways will start flying to Dammam and Najaf by the first half of November, airline sources confirmed on Sunday.

“As we enter our third year we would like to announce that we will be opening two more destinations shortly — Dammam and Najaf,” Sheikh Salem bin Sultan Al-Qasimi, chairman of the Department of Civil Aviation, Ras Al-Khaimah, and vice-chairman of RAK Airways, confirmed in a statement to Arab News.

“I would like to thank our wellwishers for their loyalty and support to the airline,” Sheikh Salem said.

Dammam will be the airline’s third destination in Saudi Arabia and Najaf will be its first entry into Iraq.

The airline currently operates to Jeddah and Riyadh in the Kingdom.

Based in Ras Al-Khaimah, the airline also operates to Dhaka, Chittagong, Katmandu, Calicut, Lahore, Amman, Islamabad, Doha, Cairo and Peshawar.

Talking on the sidelines of the third anniversary celebrations, Harish Kutty, commercial vice president of RAK Airways, told Arab News that Saudi Arabia is an extremely important market for RAK airways.

“We would very much like to expand our services in the country as we see it offering an excellent fit to our network,” he added.

“We are working closely with GACA and other concerned Saudi authorities to gain further service frequencies and destinations into the country, and if we succeed we hope to strengthen our network with additional flights.” he said.

RAK Airways, a private joint stock company incorporated in the RAK Investment Authority Free Zone with an authorized capital of AED1.5 billion, is the only full service carrier from Northern Emirates of the UAE and the airline has seen a boost of 40 percent increase in its passenger strength over the first half of 2013. In 2012, the airline flew 300,000 passengers.

The fast-growing airline attracts a huge number of passengers through different promotions including free long-term parking at RAK Airport, free baggage allowance up to 30kg, free hot meals and free transportation between RAK Airport and other emirates.

While asked about other markets in the region, Harish Kutty said the airline is constrained with bilateral agreements in both Pakistan and India, “which offer us huge potential in the future.”

Harish Kutty said: “We continue to work closely with the respective authorities to seek additional frequencies and destinations.”

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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