DUBAI, 1 May 2008 — Low cost airlines that offer affordable fares to different destinations from the UAE are experiencing soaring demands to India routes. Air Arabia said yesterday that its passenger average load factor — passengers carried as a proportion of available seats — across its destination network in India stood at 94 percent for the first quarter of 2008.
RAK Airways said that they are experiencing heavy demand as their fair is very low compared to competitors.
According to Air Arabia, it served 246,296 passengers on its Sharjah-India routes for the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 43 percent compared to 172,246 passengers during the same period in 2007.
Air Arabia flies directly from its hub in Sharjah to Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvanathapuram, Bangalore, Kozhikode and New Delhi. “India is an important market for Air Arabia, and we are committed to providing the best value for money for our customers who fly on our routes there,” said A.K. Nizar, Head of Commercial Department, Air Arabia. “
RAK Airways that recently launched Kozhikode service, its first destination to India, also offers flights to Dhakah, Colombo and Chittagong from Ras Al-Khaimah.
“Our rates are very competitive and we offer food inside the aircraft. Currently, we experience huge demand for tickets, even from the newly started Kozhikode sector” says P.V. Kumar, a senior RAK airways official. The airline offers a one-way ticket from Kozhikode to Ras Al-Khaimah for just AED480. RAK airways CEO K. Ravindran said that they have plans to start flights to Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.
“Discussions are on with Saudi Aviation authority, but we are unable to provide more details now” Ravindran said.
“We are committed to expand our network both regionally and internationally. We have plans to undertake a phased network expansion over the next two years and aims to cover about 20 destinations within the region and neighboring countries. If we start our Saudi operation, it will help millions of expatriates in the Kingdom”, Ravindran added. “Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi are our other planned destinations.”