Air Arabia begins operations

From Skytrax:
Air Arabia, the first budget airline of the Gulf and the Middle East region, is to begin scheduled operations to Bahrain from October 29.

The airline, which will fly three times a week initially, will offer passengers a low cost all-inclusive one-way fare of around BD16, to Sharjah, said the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Adel Abdullah Ali.

“We have in this way, unleashed a new concept of air travel to the region and have focussed on on-line booking and value for money travelling,” he said. “We have introduced a new business model to the region which has proven successful throughout the world. Our overriding objective is to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective means of travel from Sharjah International Airport to points in the Middle East,” he said. “We envisage creating an airline that will grant citizens of this region the chance to enjoy the benefits of low fares, ease of booking and transparency of service,” he said.

Ali said the airline will be inaugurated during a ceremony at the Bahrain International Airport on October 28 when he, along with the senior management of the airline, will accompany a special flight.

“The inspiration behind the airline’s name came from the underlying vision of creating an airline that will bridge the gap between the people of this region,” said Ali.

“The aviation industry in the Arab world goes back 70 years, and is solely constituted of national country airlines. We wanted to be the first Arab airline to provide affordable travel to all the people of the region.” He said the Air Arabia fleet will initially consist of four A320 aircrafts with no class distinctions, flying to Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Kuwait, Beirut, Damascus and Tehran.

“We have modelled Air Arabia after leading American and European low cost airlines and have customised it to local preferences,” he said. “Our main focus is to make air travel more convenient and frequent through Internet booking and offering the lowest fares in the market without sacrificing on service and safety standards.” The chief executive officer said over a period of time, they will offer an innovative and reliable product which will appeal to vacation and business travellers alike.

“We have taken all pains to ensure that we have well trained employees and have adapted very well to the latest-available technology.” This, he said, will ensure high value returns for passengers, business partners, investors and suppliers. He said the idea is to enable customers who have not been able to afford air travel in the past to start travelling throughout the region and those who do travel to do so more frequently. Ali said offering low or ‘budget’ fares was possible by operating one type of aircraft, which saves on cabin crew training, maintenance and spare parts, as well as encourages maximum utilisation of aircraft and cabin crew through faster turnaround.

“It is also a ticketless airline, saving on paper and processing costs and less hassle for the customer, who does not need to worry about collecting tickets before travelling.” He said passengers are given a choice to purchase their food and drinks at reasonably priced rates on board, if they wish to do so.
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It is a new and interesting concept for the Gulf and Middle East. No doubt travellers will be willing to able to forgo the full service tradition of this region for the cheap flights are regular frequency of a low cost airline. Sharjah is pretty undeveloped from a passenger point of view so it probably would be a good base for the operation compared to somewhere such as Dubai.