JEDDAH, 16 June 2004 — The UAE’s national budget airline Air Arabia has announced the fares for its flights to the Kingdom.
Its first flight will arrive at King Abdul Aziz International Airport from Sharjah on June 20. Flights to Dammam and Riyadh will follow “soon after,” an Air Arabia team said here yesterday.
A one-way ticket to Sharjah starts at SR150 from Dammam, SR400 from Riyadh and SR600 from Jeddah, excluding government surcharges and taxes which vary from country to country.
Fares are all quoted one-way without restrictions. “The way the fares are structured ultimately depends on market supply and demand. Hence fares increase as seats are sold on every flight. Accordingly, the earlier a passenger books, the more likely he is to pay the lowest available or starting fare,” said A.K. Nizar of Air Arabia.
He said the airline was able to offer such low fares due to the maximum utilization of aircraft and cabin crew through faster turnaround, adopting a “ticketless” airline concept which results in saving on paper and processing costs and less hassle for the passenger. It also cuts out free in-flight meals. Instead, passengers on board can buy “reasonably priced” food and drinks.
Customers without credit cards for online bookings will have to visit Portfolio travel agency offices.
All 150 seats on the airline’s three Airbus jets are economy class.
Flights to Sharjah from Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh will be scheduled twice a week. Jeddah flights leave every Wednesday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and arrive at 2.45 p.m. in Sharjah, from Dammam every Monday and Thursday at 11.30 a.m. reaching Sharjah at 1.45 p.m. and from Riyadh flights depart every Tuesday and Saturday at 12 noon and arrive in Sharjah at 2.40 p.m.
Air Arabia is a Sharjah government-owned airline, which is currently flying from Sharjah to Bahrain, Beirut and Alexandria daily, to Damascus five days a week, Kuwait four days a week, Muscat five days a week, Assiut two days a week, Aleppo two days a week Doha six days a week, Khartoum two days a week and Colombo four days a week.
The airline is also planning services to the Indian Subcontinent.
