United Arab Emirates-based Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) Airways will resume passenger flights next month after a hiatus of about two years, its chairman announced on Sunday. "The time is now right for us to make a spectacular return into the market," Sheikh Omar bin Saqr al-Qassimi said at a news conference in Ras al-Khaimah, the tiny northernmost emirate in the UAE federation.
"RAK Airways will play a pivotal role in Ras al-Khaimah's growth plan," Sheikh Omar said. The resource-poor emirate, where the ceramics, pharmaceutical and cement industries play important roles, aims to quadruple its number of tourists by 2012, and also increase the number of five-star hotel rooms from 1,400 to 7,500, Sheikh Omar said.
According to the Ras al-Khaimah Investment and Development Office's website, the emirate's economy will "complement and follow the Dubai model in its economic growth strategy."
Development plans centre on real estate, infrastructure and tourism, it says. According to the RAK Airways website, Ras al-Khaimah International Airport is also being refurbished "to handle more aircraft and passengers." "We are working closely with the airport," the airline's chief executive officer Omar Jahameh said.
RAK Airways will resume passenger flights on October 10, 2010, using two leased Boeing 737-400 aircraft, Jahameh told the news conference. The company also leases a Boeing 757, but this aircraft will only be used for "charter business," he said.
The airline will initially fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Calicut, India, Jahameh said. RAK Airways was established by a decree from Ras al-Khaimah ruler Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qassimi in 2006 and began operating the next year, but stopped passenger flights in late 2008, Jahameh said.