Kabul flights to start from UAE capital on May 14

The Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) announced on Tuesday that it will welcome the first Safi Airways passenger flight to the UAE capital on Thursday May 14.

The new route provides the UAE capital’s first direct air link with Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul, ADAC announced at the Arabian Travel Market 2009 event in Dubai.

Safi Airways was launched in the latter half of 2006 and fares start from $99 for a one way ticket.

The airline will operate a fleet of Boeing 737-300s from Terminal 2 at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Each of the two flights per week will have a capacity of 128 passengers.

The scheduled route from Kabul to Abu Dhabi is expected to appeal to the 150,000 strong Afghan population living in the UAE, as well as business and leisure travellers.

Mohammed Al Bulooki, vice president, Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue at ADAC, said: “ADAC is delighted to welcome Safi Airways to our growing aviation hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

"Safi Airways will be our 44th airline that now flies to and from our airport, and our first new addition for 2009.”

Tilmann Gabriel, president/CEO of Safi Airways added: “We are certain that the Abu Dhabi – Kabul route will serve a growing number of passengers travelling between our two countries, and we are convinced that growing demand will enable us to increase our frequencies in the future.”

Safi Airways currently flies directly from Kabul to Dubai, Sharjah and Kuwait, and has built an extensive network in Afghanistan between the cities of Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-E-Sharif and Kabul.

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