The run-up to this year's Dubai airshow has been one of the busiest ever for the Gulf's air transport industry with two new airlines launching services in the past six weeks, and another on the brink of taking to the air. It is a period of remarkable activity for a region dominated by traditional flag carriers.
The latest to begin operating is Etihad Airways, majority owned by the Abu Dhabi government, which began flying from Abu Dhabi to Beirut on 12 November.
On the first day of the show, Etihad will begin flights to Damascus, with service to Muscat and Cairo following within weeks, says Richard Bate, product development manager.
Guests
The two Sharjah-based carriers – Air Arabia, which begin operations on 28 October, and Menajet, which is aiming to start flying during the first quarter of 2004 – are adopting the low-cost model, whereas Etihad is a full-service airline.
It refers to its passengers as ‘guests', and is deliberately going for a stylish three-class product on its two 225-seat Airbus A330-200s.
The airline's first A330s are dry-leased from Brazil's TAM, with another two arriving in January from an undisclosed carrier.
At the show, Etihad will be "in conversation with the manufacturers to finalise type selection [for] our own fleet," says Bate.
Delivery
It wants to secure delivery positions on new aircraft to replace those leased – planned to reach six-eight A330s by December 2004 – in due course, with the Boeing 777, 7E7 and A330 all in the running, he says.
The additional A330s will be used to open a route to London.
Etihad has slots at Heathrow for four services a week from the beginning of the summer schedule on 28 March, says Bate. If it can obtain traffic rights, the airline wants to operate to India and Pakistan, and services to Bangkok and Jakarta in the Far East are also in the works for 2004.
While Etihad represents a challenge to Gulf Air, which also counts Abu Dhabi as one of its hubs and the emirate's government as one of its shareholders, Air Arabia feels it is tapping new markets. For instance, many people currently use buses to cover the 10-12h journeys between some Gulf countries, or the 30-40h it takes to travel to the Levant, says chief executive Adel Ali.
With its two A320s leased from Air Malta, Air Arabia is offering low fares on routes to both regions.
Sharjah, a 30min drive from Dubai, offers an ideal base for a low-fare airline: an uncongested airport; a catchment area of over 1.5 million people; and a large expatriate population within easy reach, explains Ali.
Since it started, traffic has risen "above expectations", he says, with load factors averaging 58% so far.
Air Arabia will add routes to Iran shortly, with Tehran scheduled to start on 15 December and Shiraz on 1 January. Doha, the capital of Qatar, will also be added to the network before year-end, says Ali.
The fleet will grow to six A320s within two years.
Air Arabia is owned by the government of Sharjah. "The government has always wanted to have an airline, but not one that would run into financial difficulties," says Ali. "It took its time to look at which model would be the best for Sharjah and all the studies said there was no point in having a conventional airline."
Like Etihad, Air Arabia has selected Abu Dhabi-based GAMCO for its maintenance support. Its two A320s, ex-Air Malta examples leased from ILFC, will be supplemented by another two new A320s leased from ILFC in February.
Although Air Arabia was first past the post in launching low-cost operations from Sharjah, another A320 operator is preparing to join it soon.
Menajet is backed by Bahrain-based investment group Gulf Finance House and Saudi Arabian industrial company Al-Zamil Group. It promises a low-fare product quite different from its rival's next year.
Credentials
The carrier has hired Keith McMann, a former EasyJet director, to help establish its low-fare credentials.
Chief executive Mazen Hajjar believes many will be watching its launch with interest.
"Menajet will be the first major privately-owned carrier in the region that will operate this service and a lot of people are waiting to see if it will be successful or not," he says. "If it is, it might open up a lot of business opportunities to other private enterprises."
Source: Flight Daily News
