Monday 21 March 2011

.RAK Airways will emerge stronger: CEO

DUBAI - RAK AirwaysRAK Airways
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will emerge stronger as the airline plans to generate demand from tourism and the expat community based in the emirate, its top official said on Monday.

"The airline is an integrated part of RAK vision that expects an increase in tourists influx from 0.5 million at present to over 2.5 million by 2013," RAK AirwaysRAK Airways
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Chief Executive Officer Omar Jahameh said while addressing the Aviation Outlook MENA conference.

He said emirate has potential to attract tourists and ongoing infrastructure developments will boost hospitality sector that will ultimately generate demand for air travel from the emirate.

"Almost $10 billion in investment is allocated to expand and build tourism attractions in the next few years. RAK Tourism expects to increase the footfall in Ras Al Khaimah from the current half a million to around 2.5 million by 2013."

The emirate is also aiming by the end of next year to push the number of five star hotel rooms up to 7,500 and have at least 30 hotels. Jahameh said RAK AirwaysRAK Airways
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looked at its own domestic demand within the emirate. "We have a large cement industry, UAE's largest pharmaceutical company and one of the world's largest ceramic tile manufacturer with more than 5,000 expatriate workers in the emirate. We looked at how they would travel and then worked with the company to make sure we could deliver what they needed." The airline also saw opportunities for Umra packages, he said. Jahameh also defended the decision to suspend the airline's services in 2009. He said that tough decision enabled the airline to emerge stronger after its relaunch in September 2010.

"The decision was made to suspend the airline and protect the capital investment of $200 million," he said adding that the airline became stronger by re-emerging in 2010 as it serves a new market segment.

"We at RAK AirwaysRAK Airways
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were waiting to be back in business at the right time with a business model which defines our vision in building a 
sustainable future."

"The first quarter of 2010 witnessed global traffic coming back to pre-recession levels with improving load factors and bottom line. With the worst of the recession behind, 2010 was the right time for us to look to the future."

The airline has so far launched flights to Calicut, Dhaka, Jeddah and Cairo. "We sit with an average seat factor of around 85 per cent on our existing routes," Jahameh said adding that the strategy of the low cost Dh10 introductory fare created an impact. "Ras Al Khaimah is on its way to become a world-renowned destination in terms of investment, tourism and infrastructure. RAK AirwaysRAK Airways
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work very closely with the tourism authority of Ras Al Khaimah. Our mandate is to provide the best connections in and out of Ras Al Khaimah at affordable prices with high quality to support the government vision of connecting the world with Ras Al Khaimah."

He said the re-launch of RAK AirwaysRAK Airways
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is set to play a key role in the promotion of Ras Al Khaimah as a favoured destination.

"Ras Al Khaimah is also a wonderful place to do business, with a healthy economy, together with a stable environment. Ras Al Khaimah free Trade Zone, one of the fastest growing and most cost effective free trade zones in the UAE is home to over 5,000 companies now. The cost of living and doing business in Ras Al Khaimah is extremely competitive, yet the emirate is perfectly positioned at the cross roads of Europe and Asia," he said. 

By
Monika Jain

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