Dubai: Nasair, the Saudi-based low-cost airline, has an aggressive expansion plan, adding one new destination a month.
As part of this plan, the airline recently announced its new route to Dubai, and 10 flights a week between the emirate and the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyadh and Jeddah are already operational.
By 2011, Nasair aims to increase its frequency to 18 flights per week and add a link to Dammam.
"We have seen a marked increase in demand from passengers to travel between Dubai and Saudi Arabia, so opening up this route was a logical step in our strategic expansion plans. According to recent statistics, passenger figures through Dubai are up 14 per cent in 2010 which demonstrates the importance of the emirate as a major travel hub in the region," said Sulaiman Al Hamdan, CEO of National Air Services (NAS Holding).
"The growing commercial ties between the UAE and Saudi Arabia have encouraged Nasair to expand its destinations in the UAE and we have now three routes to and from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah connecting three main cities in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Jeddah and Madinah," said Simon Stewart, CEO of Nasair.
"Due to issues such as the fact that our principal competitors enjoy significant reductions in cost of fuel, ongoing infrastructure and supplier issues and difficulty in obtaining visas into the kingdom it makes it more difficult for us to service this area and this market," said Stewart.
"But the key thing for us is that the success of the Nasair airline is not contingent on us acquiring regulatory reform. We have a solid business plan on a number of international groups and we are continuing our expansion."
According to Al Hamdan, the last few months have seen a marginal profit, but with the addition of new routes the company is hoping for better profits in 2011.
"Between 2008 and 2009, passenger and revenue-wise, we grew about 100 per cent. Between 2009 to 2010 we grew another 75 per cent and for next year we're looking at another 35 per cent. Last year and this year we were not profitable, but next year we will be," Dr Maria Haine, chief commercial officer, told Gulf News.
New destinations
The airline, which was launched in 2007, operates over 450 flights per week.
This year, the airline added seven destinations in Syria, Sudan and India.
Nasair is planning to add at least three more international routes in the first quarter of 2011 and are aiming to carry 2.2 million passengers by the end of this year.
The new destinations will include cities in Egypt, Turkey and Qatar. Since its launch the airline has transported more than 4 million passengers.
Nasair's fleet consists of 13 aircraft.
Nasair will add two Embraer E190s this month and three Airbus A320s will join its fleet in 2012.
Saudi Arabia recently saw the closure of its other low-cost airline, Sama Airlines.
While Nasair has increased its market share in some destinations serviced by Sama airlines, Dr Haine says they were not heavily affected by the closure of the budget carrier.
