RAK Airways
Encyclopedia
RAK Airways is the national airline
of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven states in the United Arab Emirates
. The airline has relaunched operations in 2010 under a new livery and new management.
and RAK Airways signed a 1.6 billion dirham
deal for four 737-800s, with further purchase rights with the first aircraft available to be taken on delivery in 2011.
The carrier was hard hit during the Financial crisis of 2007-2010, and so they closed operations in 2009. In 2010, the airline announced that it will be resuming operations with a "value-for-money" business model, aiming to position itself between full-service and low-cost carrier
s. RAK Airways is the first Middle Eastern airline to actively use social media
to engage with its passengers, via mediums such as Twitter
and Facebook
.
In February 2011 it was revealed that RAK Airways was planning on launching flights between five and nine new destinations. Though they confirmed that as it was difficult securing slots at several of the destinations due to rival carriers of the United Arab Emirates
. For this reason, they revealed that they were in the final stages of finalizing a code-sharing agreement with an Asian
carrier. Along with this they will also increase the fleet. They further more confirmed that they believe they will break-even before the end of the year.
The airline is also currently doing charter flights to Germany and Austria.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven states in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. The airline has relaunched operations in 2010 under a new livery and new management.
History
RAK Airways was founded in 2006 and launched operations early in 2007 with two Boeing 757-200 aircraft. BoeingBoeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
and RAK Airways signed a 1.6 billion dirham
United Arab Emirates dirham
The dirham is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The ISO 4217 code for the United Arab Emirates dirham is AED. Unofficial abbreviations include DH or Dhs. The dirham is subdivided into 100 ....
deal for four 737-800s, with further purchase rights with the first aircraft available to be taken on delivery in 2011.
The carrier was hard hit during the Financial crisis of 2007-2010, and so they closed operations in 2009. In 2010, the airline announced that it will be resuming operations with a "value-for-money" business model, aiming to position itself between full-service and low-cost carrier
Low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
s. RAK Airways is the first Middle Eastern airline to actively use social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
to engage with its passengers, via mediums such as Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
.
In February 2011 it was revealed that RAK Airways was planning on launching flights between five and nine new destinations. Though they confirmed that as it was difficult securing slots at several of the destinations due to rival carriers of the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. For this reason, they revealed that they were in the final stages of finalizing a code-sharing agreement with an Asian
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
carrier. Along with this they will also increase the fleet. They further more confirmed that they believe they will break-even before the end of the year.
Destinations
RAK Airways currently serves the following at October 2011:- Bangladesh
- ChittagongChittagongChittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
- Shah Amanat International AirportShah Amanat International AirportShah Amanat International Airport , named after an Islamic saint, is an international airport serving Bangladesh's south-eastern port city of Chittagong and the Bangladesh Air Force. It is Bangladesh's second largest airport... - DhakaDhakaDhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
- Shahjalal International Airport
- Chittagong
- Egypt
- CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
- Cairo International AirportCairo International AirportCairo International Airport is the busiest airport in Egypt and the primary hub for Star Alliance member EgyptAir. The airport is located to the north-east of the city around from the business area of the city.The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Co...
- Cairo
- India
- KozhikodeKozhikodeKozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
- Calicut International AirportCalicut International AirportCalicut International Airport , also known as Karipur Airport, is an International Airport serving the city of Kozhikode , Kerala, India. The airport is located in Karipur, Malappuram district about from the Kozhikode Railway Station and from the city of Malappuram, with the closest railway...
- Kozhikode
- Kuwait
- Kuwait CityKuwait City-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...
- Kuwait International AirportKuwait International AirportKuwait International Airport is located in Farwaniyah, Kuwait, south of Kuwait City. It serves as hub for Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Airways. A portion of the airport complex is designated as Al Mubarak Air Base, which contains the headquarters of the Kuwait Air Force, as well as the Kuwait Air...
[begins 20 November]
- Kuwait City
- Pakistan
- LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
- Allama Iqbal International AirportAllama Iqbal International AirportAllama Iqbal International Airport is the second-largest civil airport in Pakistan, serving Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. Originally known as Lahore International Airport, it was renamed in 2003 for Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the Islamic poet-philosopher who was a major advocate for the... - PeshawarPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
- Peshawar International AirportPeshawar International AirportPeshawar International Airport is an airport located in the city of Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Located about a 10-minute drive from the centre of Peshawar, it is the fourth busiest airport in Pakistan...
[begins 15 November]
- Lahore
- Qatar
- DohaDohaDoha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
- Doha International Airport
- Doha
- Saudi Arabia
- JeddahJeddahJeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
- King Abdulaziz International AirportKing Abdulaziz International AirportKing Abdulaziz International Airport is an aviation facility located 19 km to the north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Named after King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the airport is Saudi Arabia's third largest air facility and busiest airport by passenger. The airport occupies an area of 15 square kilometers...
- Jeddah
- Sudan
- KhartoumKhartoumKhartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
- Khartoum International AirportKhartoum International AirportKhartoum International Airport is an airport in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.It will be replaced with a new airport 40 kilometers south of the centre of Khartoum by 2012...
[begins 20 November]
- Khartoum
- United Arab Emirates
- Ras al-KhaimahRas al-KhaimahRas al-Khaimah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates , in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008. The city...
- Ras Al Khaimah International AirportRas Al Khaimah International AirportRas Al Khaimah International Airport is away from the city of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:*...
Hub
- Ras al-Khaimah
The airline is also currently doing charter flights to Germany and Austria.
Fleet
As of November 2010, the RAK Airways fleet includes the following aircraft with an average age of 13.3 years:| Aircraft | In Fleet | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001... |
1 | |
| Boeing 757-200 | 1 | operated by Jet2 |
| Embraer 190 | 1 | operated by Air Moldova Air Moldova Air Moldova is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Chişinău International Airport in Chişinău, Moldova. It is the national airline of Moldova and operates scheduled services to 17 destinations in Europe. Its main base is Chişinău International Airport. The Air Moldova air operators... |
| Total | 3 |