RAK Airways outlines development plans

By Victoria Moores |

RAK Airways (RT) plans to expand its fleet to four aircraft by the end of 2013 to stabilize its network, add new destinations and boost frequencies on newly launched domestic flights.

On Oct. 3, RT expanded into domestic services (ATW Daily News, Sept. 3) between its Ras Al Khaimah (RKT) home base and Abu Dhabi (AUH) when it launched a codeshare with Etihad Airways (EY) (ATW Daily News, Sept. 7).

Courtesy, RAK Airways

 

Speaking at World Routes in Abu Dhabi, RT CEO John Brayford announced plans to step up RKT-AUH service from 4X-weekly to daily in December. From March, the service will increase to double daily.

The additional AUH flights will help fuel RT’s codeshare with EY. The deal currently covers EY’s Bangkok, Dublin, Geneva, London Heathrow and Manchester flights, but Brayford is seeking approval to add RT’s code to EY’s Frankfurt, Munich, Chicago and New York services as well. 

RT’s expansion plans also include adding a third aircraft by April 2013 and a fourth by November 2013. “The purpose of the third aircraft will be to improve network connectivity and frequency on existing routes. When the fourth aircraft arrives, we [will] probably add one or two more routes, but there’s nothing firmed up at the moment. We will double the number of flights versus winter 2012,” he said.

The third aircraft will be used to add a new route to Dammam, which will launch in April 2013. RT will also use the extra capacity to boost its Calicut services to daily.

RT already serves Lahore and Peshawar in Pakistan and, in the longer term, RT’s management is assessing new flights to Islamabad. Brayford is also looking at two new Indian destinations. “India is part of our plans. We know where we want to operate, so we are not looking for blanket approval. We are looking at two new cities at the moment—Cochin and Trivandrum.”

RT, which was originally a budget carrier, re-launched in October 2010 as a full-service airline. Now RT is GDS-listed and offers a two-class cabin configuration. It serves 10 cities—Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Calicut, Chittagong, Dhaka, Doha, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Lahore and Peshawar—using two Airbus A320s.