Dubai: Airblue, Pakistan's largest private airline, will start 14 flights per week between Sharjah to four major destinations in Pakistan.
"We will launch our flight operation from Sharjah on August 14 to Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Faisalabad," said Syed Nasir Ali, managing director of Airblue, at a launch ceremony in Sharjah.
The airline launched its Dubai operations three years ago with a daily flight to Karachi. Currently, the airline operates 21 flights per week from Dubai to four major cities in Pakistan. "With the launch of our operation from Sharjah, we will have 35 flights per week in all to five destinations to Pakistan," said Ali. He said the operation from Sharjah is part of airline's plan to expand its operation in the Gulf region. "From October, we will start flights to new destinations including Muscat, Kuwait and Delhi," he added.Airblue is the first Pakistani airline which offers complete e-ticketing and online seat reservation facility to passengers.
Orders
Airblue has acquired two new airbus A-319 aircraft on dry lease, which will be inducted in its fleet from the first week of August. With this, Airblue's fleet will consist of nine aircraft. The airline has also placed a $800 million order for 14 new A320 planes.
The scheduled delivery of these aircraft starts from June 2009 at three to six-month intervals, Ali said.
About the rising fuel cost and increasing air fares, he said his airline was trying its best to absorb the rise in prices. "We have cut down our administrative expenses by 10 per cent in addition to rationalising our flight meal cost," he said.
The airline has also abolished its business class from May 1 this year, becoming an all-economy airline. "This has helped increase our seat capacity to accommodate more passengers," Ali noted.
He added that fuel prices had increased from Rs18 (Dh1.1) per litre in 2004 to Rs85 per litre in 2008, making it harder for airlines to survive. "Ours is the only private airline in Pakistan apart from the national career, which has survived," he said.
By Ashfaq Ahmed
© Gulf News 2008
