Abu Dhabi International Airport welcomed the first commercial flight of AirBlue, Pakistan's largest privately-operated airline, on Sunday.
Initially set to operate four flights per week from Lahore to Abu Dhabi, AirBlue officials at the reception ceremony indicated that the frequency will be increased in line with demand, to a twice daily service in the near future.
With an estimated 300,000 Pakistani expatriates living in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – around 50 per cent of the UAE's total Pakistani community – AirBlue's new service is expected to immediately benefit a significant population of workers and families.
AirBlue has started its operation in 2004 and Abu Dhabi is its third international destination as well as the second in the UAE.
At the welcome ceremony held at the Al Dar Lounge at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Sarosh Bhatti, General Manager - Marketing of Airblue said,“We are extremely pleased to be opening up a route into Abu Dhabi as the city and Emirate represents a key market as we move to extend our international network.''
“We are certain that the Abu Dhabi – Pakistan route will serve a growing number of passengers between our two countries and we are hopeful that demand will see us able to increase our frequencies to and from the UAE capital in a short period of time.''
In addition to AirBlue increasing its international network, another milestone was noted at the reception ceremony today as Abu Dhabi Airports Company celebrated Air Blue's arrival by confirming that the Pakistani carrier was the 40th airline to operate out of the Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Flight details
- Air Blue will operate the service on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
- In-bound flights will arrive in Abu Dhabi at 12:00hrs (13:00hrs after 1 September) and out-bound flights will depart at 13:00hrs (14:00hrs after 1 September).
- Average flight time is three hours.
