RAK Airways plans to begin flying scheduled routes again in April after suspending flights and making redundant 60 employees last month. The airline, based in Ras al Khaimah, cut staff and terminated its regular service to Dhaka, Chittagong, Calicut and Colombo after seeing its fleet reduced from three aircraft to one, said Mouin Yassine, the airline's new chief operating officer.
In the meantime, the airline has been operating on a charter-only basis, using its remaining Boeing 757-200 while simultaneously planning its scheduled relaunch to destinations such as Beirut, Brussels and Dusseldorf. "We shut down operations in December 11 and the last flight was December 13," said Mr Yassine. "One aircraft was flying after two aircraft had to be returned - one because of continual technical problems, the other because the lease contract had ended."
The logistics and costs of operating an airline with just one aircraft are believed to have been major factors in the decision to shut down. "In case of any problems, we would not have any other aircraft as back up. In order to avoid problems and [receive] a bad reputation for the company, it was better to stop," he said. To help it resume operations by April, the airline was in negotiations to lease and purchase up to four Boeing single-aisle 737s, which would also support its charter services, Mr Yassine added. In addition, last year the airline ordered four new 737-800s which are scheduled for delivery in 2011.
Mr Yassine is the latest executive to man the helm at RAK Airways after the carrier lost four top executives in the span of 18 months. The airline was created by the RAK government in 2005, at a time when regional airlines were flourishing due to an economic boom caused by the four-fold rise in oil prices since 2002. But, partly due to management instability, RAK Airways' launch plans were delayed by more than a year, to mid-2007.
The airline, which carried about 125,000 passengers last year, according to RAK airport officials, is now battling a global slowdown in demand for air travel. Although passenger traffic in the Middle East grew 5.6 per cent worldwide in November, the single-digit growth reflects a "step-change from the double-digit expansion that characterised growth prior to the current financial crisis", according to the International Air Transport Association.
The airline, which retains a staff of more than 70 employees, is making an average of five charter flights a week, primarily short-haul, regional flights within the GCC to destinations such as Muscat and Doha. "Our new schedules will include Beirut, Brussels and Dusseldorf," Mr Yassine said. "Once we get our [leased] 737-800, we hope that we will start." @Email:ngillet@thenational.ae igale@thenational.ae
