The UAE’s newest airline, the Fujairah-based Eastern
Express, plans to offer return flights to the Gulf state’s capital starting
from AED1,200, the carrier’s CEO told
Arabian Business.
The airline, which plans to begin operations in early-2012
with two flights daily to Abu Dhabi, hopes to break-even within the first three
years of operations, said Alex de Vos.
“The business plan
foresees a break-even within three years from the launch,” he said. “So month
25 to month 36, or somewhere in between, will be our break-even point.
The airline plans to target corporate travellers keen to cut
down the commute between Fujairah and the oil-rich UAE capital, and will be the
first commercial carrier to fly the route.
“The cost one-way [to Abu Dhabi from Fujairah] will be
AED645, and so return will be approximately AED1200. [For] the routes where we
have a monopoly we can be a little bit higher,” Vos said. “We’re not a state
legacy carrier and obviously the investors behind us are in eventually for the
money, so [ultimately] we need to make a profit.”
Eastern Express is Fujairah’s first passenger airline, and
the only commercial carrier to operate out of the Northern emirate. The $3.5m
venture is supported by three Emirati investors, including the Dubai-based
Gargash family.
The carrier will not compete with existing no-frills
airlines, said de Vos, but expects its customer base to be a blend of business
travellers and GCC tourists.
Eastern Express hopes to provide onward connections alongside an international airline, in a bid to boost ticket
sales, said de Vos, but declined to name the potential partner.
“In the end it would
be good for us if an international carrier would fly into Fujairah, because
there is always vice versa traffic but both airlines. I know the airport is
talking to a few of the carriers, but I can’t give names,” he said.
Beginning with two flights per day to Abu Dhabi, Eastern
Express will eventually increase its service to four daily flights including
connections with Abu Dhabi’s executive airport Al Bateen.
A second route to Doha is scheduled to launch next year, de
Vos said.
The company’s aircraft will be chartered out for private use
when no flights are scheduled.
“We have sourced a number of aircraft that are suitable for
our operations and Jetstream 41 is one of them,” he said. “The contract signing
for the aircraft has not been finalised yet. It should be in all fairness if we
want to adhere to our target launch date, it should be within this month.
“All four aircraft are similar in performance and layout so
at the moment it’s just a case of fitting into the legal parameters.”
Looking forward, the airline hopes to secure routes to the Indian
subcontinent and the East coast of Africa, but has yet to confirm any
additional services.
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