Best Pakistani Airline : Airblue

[Rehmatab]

Salam

Just visited airblue.com and found this news.

Congratulation AirBlue.

[Abbas Ali]

Congrats to AirBlue

I would like to see more aircraft in AirBlue fleet. More aircraft will help AirBlue strengthen its position and expand route network.


Source: airblue.com

Abbas

[EinsteinMux]

I wish all the best for Pakistani Airlines but this award sounds like

Andhon main Kana Raja

[Hamad]

Airblue deserves it to be at the moment the best Pakistani Airline

[adamalikhan]

Well done AirBlue and well deserved!

Is this the first time AirBlue has won this award? Has it always been PIA in the past?

[GrandSlam]

i not at all agree with it.a very biased award,my family and i always had a bad experience with them their flights are never on time..never a day goes by without their flight getting cancelled but i wonder why do media dont report it..i believe shaheen is way better then them

[Moin]

Yes ED have been severely plagued with delays due to shortage of a/c but they're looking to get 2 more A319/320.

Shaheen on the other hand seems to to be doing pretty well and I definitely plan on trying them out once more.

[Abbas Ali]

Among Pakistani airlines, in terms of inflight service/passenger care/courtesy, Shaheen Air cabin crew is ranked/rated as the best, this was mentioned in a local newspaper very recently.

Abbas

[SalamPaks]

I don't mean to belittle AirBlue's accomplishment, but frankly the pool of candidates for this award were not particularly stellar to begin with.

Regardless, I do think AirBlue's operation is good - not world class, but still a solid one. I've never had problems with their website - whether it is looking up flight information or purchasing tickets. Their telephone support has always been professional and any changes to itineraries have always been done quickly and accurately. Their ground service agents and managers have always been professional, competent and seem engaged with their customers. I don't see that at PIA, where unless I roll up to the check-in counter with the Brigadier-in-law, the staff seem very uninterested in serving me with any degree of professionalism. I should point out though that all my Air Blue experiences have been on the DXB-KHI-DXB sectors so my input is limited to interactions with staff at those two stations.

[Shahab]

My experience with airblue was so pathetic that I vowed never to use them again. To me they are just a bunch of amateurs not fit enough to handle a bus service let alone an airline. On the other hand, I always had consistent excellent service with Shaheen and in my opinion Shaheen cabin crew is second to none.

[Lufthansa Cargo]

Congrats to Airblue! Hopefully one day we will be able to fly them out of JFK.

[Abbas Ali]

AirBlue (www.airblue.com) advertisement in today's (March 14) newspaper.

"AirBlue - flying redifined.

Quality, Reliability, Innovation.

Dedicated to redefine and reinvent airline travel, airblue is proud to be this year's recipient of Consumers Choice Award 2011 for "Best Pakistani Airline".

The advertisement shows Airbus A320-214 (AP-EDA) that was delivered in brand new condition to AirBlue by Airbus.

Domestic and international destinations served by AirBlue are also listed in the advertisement.

Domestic Destinations
Islamabad
Karachi
Lahore
Peshawar

International Destinations
Abu Dhabi
Dubai
Sharjah
Muscat
Manchester
Istanbul



Abbas

[Pineapple]

Congrats to Airblue! Hopefully one day we will be able to fly them out of JFK.

This is probably never going to happen. The possibility of this is just about as much as lets say 'AmericanAirlines launches new destinations; Peshawar via Kabul or Sana'a via Baghdad'. Yep only about that much. Atleast in the currenct socio-political-economic scenario and aviation trends.

And AIrblue winning this award, as someone above has said 'andhon mein kaana raja'

[Abbas Ali]

Airblue wins ‘Best Pakistani Airline' award

480,000 passengers travelled on domestic and 624,000 on international flights during 2011

By Ashfaq Ahmed

March 15, 2012

Dubai - Pakistan's largest private airline, Airblue, has won the ‘Best Pakistani Airline' award for providing quality services to its passengers.

The award was given by the Consumers Association of Pakistan in its annual consumers choice awards ceremony held recently.

Receiving the award on behalf of Airblue, Director Airport Operations Airblue, Syed Armaan said: "It is an occasion to be proud of and an honour to be recognised in the eyes of Airblue's passengers as the best airline in Pakistan. This achievement shall make us strive to provide even better flying experience to our customers. We will continue to work hard and always provide our customers service par excellence."

Since its launch in 2004, the airline has been growing gradually and has tapped its own niche markets, he said. The airline carried 480,000 passengers on domestic flights in Pakistan and some 624,000 passengers on its international flights during 2011.

Saddaf Aslam Jalil, Country Manager of Airblue in the UAE, said that Airblue is Pakistan's second largest and fastest growing airline after the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

Airblue operates an all Airbus A320 family aircraft fleet with an average age of less than three years and provides scheduled air service to 10 domestic and international destinations.

Saddaf said Airblue launched its first international flight to Dubai in 2005 with a daily flight to Karachi. But it has seen rapid growth with seven flights daily from three airports in the UAE to four different destinations in Pakistan.

"We have received tremendous response from the UAE and our policy of low fares and quality service also helped us get more passengers," said Saddaf.

Source: gulfnews.com

[Abbas Ali]

Country Manager of Airblue in the UAE, said that Airblue is Pakistan's second largest and fastest growing airline after the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

At the moment, Shaheen Air appears to have larger fleet and route network than AirBlue.

A comparison between AirBlue and Shaheen Air.

AirBlue Fleet
4 x Airbus A319-100
1 x Airbus A320-200
Total Aircraft = 5

AirBlue Domestic & International Destinations
1. Abu Dhabi
2. Dubai
3. Islamabad
4. Istanbul
5. Karachi
6. Lahore
7. Manchester
8. Muscat
9. Peshawar
10. Sharjah
Total Destinations = 10
hr Shaheen Air Fleet
1 x Airbus A310-300
11 x Boeing 737-200 Advanced
3 x Boeing 737-400
2 x Boeing 737-800
Total Aircraft = 17

Shaheen Air Domestic & International Destinations
1. Abu Dhabi
2. Al Ain
3. Dammam
4. Doha
5. Dubai
6. Islamabad
7. Jeddah
8. Karachi
9. Kuwait
10. Lahore
11. Mashhad
12. Multan
13. Muscat
14. Peshawar
15. Sharjah
16. Sialkot
Total Destinations = 16

Abbas