UAE's Rak Airways to start India operations in April

15 February 2007

RAK Airways joins a growing number of airlines seeking to tap into the growing Indian market

Ras Al Khaimah: RAK Airways, the fourth national carrier of UAE, will start operations in April 2007, initially flying to destinations in India and Iran, according to Jack Romero, CEO of the new airline. The airline has announced its plans after having received its air-operating certificate from the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of UAE.

'We have received the air operating certificate from the GCAA and we are aiming to start flying in April, as soon as we get the traffic rights to India and Iran,' Jack Romero said. Romero was speaking on the sidelines of the RAK Development Conference 2007.

According to Romero, the airline will begin operations by using two leased Boeing 757- 200 aircraft, which will have a two-class configuration in its flights - business and economy.

'The airline expects to undertake flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Trivandrum, Kochi and Bangalore in India and destinations such as Tehran, Esfahan and Bandar Abbas in Iran in the first phase,' Romero said.

Talking about the airline's expansion strategy, Romero said, "We are looking to expand by at least two aircraft annually to service the Indian sub-continent, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. By the second year, we will service Russia and CIS countries and in the third year we will open up Europe, including Germany, France, Italy, UK and Scandinavian countries."

He added that the pilots and cabin crew of the airline are being trained by Lufthansa and will be ready for duty by March 15 and said that the airline reservation system, aiRES, will be tested live next week.