AirBlue: Lahore-ISB Delayed & Sharjah routes removed??

[adamalikhan]

AirBlue originally advertised on their site that the twice weekly LAHORE-ISB-LAHORE service would commence on 08/08/08 and now it is 11/08/08

and the Sharjah routes seem to have been removed completely? They were due to start on the 14th I think. The advert on their homepage has disappeared and you can no longer book any tickets for this destination. Anyone knows why?

[AirBlue]

AirBlue originally advertised on their site that the twice weekly LAHORE-ISB-LAHORE service would commence on 08/08/08 and now it is 11/08/08

and the Sharjah routes seem to have been removed completely? They were due to start on the 14th I think. The advert on their homepage has disappeared and you can no longer book any tickets for this destination. Anyone knows why?

They will put it back up once the Sharjah A319 is based there. Until then, they do not want to keep the hopes high and hence took that down. Even though, if you try a flight UET-LHE

It says that this sector is only available from ISB-KHI-DXB and Sharjah! But sharjah is not even up yet ...

[Abbas Ali]

Here's the reason for delay in Sharjah flights.

Major Setback To Expansion Plans Of Pakistan's AirBlue

5 August 2008

KARACHI: Pakistan's fastest growing private carrier, airblue, suffered a major setback in its expansion plan when the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Government of Sharjah, has for the time being put on hold the landing rights to operate from Sharjah International Airport from August 14, 2008.

Aviation sources here while confirming the news revealed that the withdrawal of permission may cause the Pakistani private carrier huge financial losses, as it had launched an expensive marketing campaign and made over a thousand bookings on the Lahore-Sharjah and Peshawar-Sharjah sector.

Source: www.khaleejtimes.com

[atmalik]

anybody knows why the authorities decided to with hold permission for now??

[adamalikhan]

That is a real shame! So that means that the newly leased aircraft will not be in the air much ... well at least for the time being - and we all know how much of a loss that is in the aviation industry!

[akramch1]

Airblue should start service from Istanbul or some other european destination where PIA is not serving at the moment like Frankfurt.
Rather than begging these studpid Arab Sheikhs who prefer more to non muslims than muslims.
Airblue should not bend before Arabs they should look for some other destination.
Akram

[Abbas Ali]

Airblue Denied Permission To Fly To Sharjah

Wednesday, August 06, 2008
By Saad Hasan

KARACHI: Sharjah authorities have withheld permission for private airline Airblue to operate scheduled flights from Pakistan to the state, just days before the launch of the service on August 14.

The decision has been taken to pressurise the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan to allow more flights to Sharjah’s national carrier Air Arabia, industry officials told The News on Tuesday.

“We had over 1,000 passengers booked and ticketed,” a dejected Airblue official said. “Besides financial losses, this episode will badly affect our credibility.” Airblue had recently added two Airbus A319 aircraft, which were to be used on routes between northern Pakistan and Sharjah.

Flights have been withheld by General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of Sharjah on grounds of ‘pending discussion’ with Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an official close to the negotiation said. “Pending discussion basically implies to Air Arabia’s endeavor to seek more flights to the country,” he added.

Air Arabia presently operates seven flights a week between the two countries, whereas none of the three Pakistani carriers are operating to Sharjah.

The case has brought fore the disadvantageous position of Pakistani airlines, which are losing their own market to Gulf carriers, an aviation expert commented. “They are taking all our passengers to Europe and onwards to US,” he said, adding that in return Pakistani airlines mostly operate on point-to-point basis.

He said CAA should take a hard stand on the issue and stop flights of Air Arabia unless the Sharjah authorities allow Air Blue to start operations.

However, none of the officials of CAA, which has claimed reaching milestones by attracting foreign carriers, were available for comment. Official spokesman had no clue as to what had happened and Director Air Traffic Manzar Jamal did not respond despite repeated attempts to contact him on his personal cellular phone.

Air Blue had also been denied more flights to Dubai. It was supposed to operate 14 weekly flights to Sharjah from Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Faisalabad.

Shalini Rajan, Air Arabia’s Regional Manager for Pakistan, said she was out of station and can not comment until next week.

Source: The News

[adamalikhan]

I'm really disappointed for the airline ... It must be a massive blow to spend so much on marketing etc not to mention the huge losses now that they have leased the two A319's and not have the routes!

[Adnan Anwar]

Here's the reason for delay in Sharjah flights.

Major Setback To Expansion Plans Of Pakistan's AirBlue

5 August 2008

KARACHI: Pakistan's fastest growing private carrier, airblue, suffered a major setback in its expansion plan when the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Government of Sharjah, has for the time being put on hold the landing rights to operate from Sharjah International Airport from August 14, 2008.

Aviation sources here while confirming the news revealed that the withdrawal of permission may cause the Pakistani private carrier huge financial losses, as it had launched an expensive marketing campaign and made over a thousand bookings on the Lahore-Sharjah and Peshawar-Sharjah sector.

Source: www.khaleejtimes.com

so far AirBlue the faced the challenges it faced from the beginning very well, they I am sure have a Plan B. They had thought about setbacks and have other destination in mind as well.

[k97]

...

[Abbas Ali]

Sharjah Shuts Out AirBlue

Sarmad Khan

Last Updated: August 14. 2008 9:58PM UAE / August 14. 2008 5:58PM

DUBAI // Pakistan’s largest private carrier, Airblue, has been denied access to Sharjah International Airport despite being given permission last month to use it as a base for 14 weekly flights, said an airline executive.

The company is now seeking an alternative destination in the Gulf and has already made an early arrangement with Abu Dhabi International Airport, said Syed Nasir Ali, the airline’s managing director.

Airblue was scheduled to launch its Sharjah operations yesterday – on Pakistan’s independence day. The company had sold more than 1,000 tickets for its two Pakistan destinations, and those passengers were diverted to Dubai, where Airblue already operates 21 flights a week to various destinations in Pakistan. .

The airline had leased two additional A319 aircraft to use on its Sharjah route and had also rescheduled its domestic plans to accommodate aircraft movement to its new destination, Mr Ali said.

“We have suffered a loss of about US$3 million (Dh11m) so far,” Mr Ali said. “Mostly it has damaged our market reputation, as this is the first time we have failed to deliver what we had promised.”

Sharjah authorities gave permission for Airblue to run the flights to and from Pakistan last month and gave no reason for the about-face, said Mr Ali.

Officials from the Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation, which oversees airport access, did not return several calls and emails asking for ­comment.

Airblue has asked the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority to intervene and resolve the pending issues with its UAE counterpart, which oversees the civil aviation departments of each emirate, said Mr Ali. Officials at the UAE General Aviation Authority did not respond to requests for comment.

Airblue’s dilemma comes as a number of the region’s airlines have been jockeying for access to airports, with Pakistan a particular hot spot. The UAE is home to close to one million Pakistani expatriates, the majority of whom live and work in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.

Meanwhile, Air Arabia, an up and coming carrier that is 15 per cent owned by the Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation, has been operating seven flights a week to Pakistan – three to the northern city of Peshawar and four to the southern port of Karachi. It has applied to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to double the number of flights that Air Arabia can fly into Pakistani cities. The request has so far not been granted.

An Air Arabia spokesman said the company was not involved in negotiations between Sharjah and Airblue. He said the airline supported “open sky policies” such as those adopted by the UAE, which allow carriers equal access to airports and aviation hubs.

Pakistan has a split-sky policy for southern and northern destinations within the country. International carriers are allowed free access to Karachi airport, but the CAA has a “selective sky policy” for Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad and Peshawar, and only allows certain airlines to land and depart from those airports. As an alternative to Sharjah, Airblue has obtained permission from the Abu Dhabi authorities to launch four weekly flights from the capital to Lahore starting August 24.

“We have plans to introduce four flights each to Peshawar and Islamabad from Abu Dhabi by the end of this year,” Mr Ali said.

Airblue has also received permission from Oman to fly three times a week from Lahore to Muscat, beginning next month.

“Despite the setback, we are committed to carry on executing our Gulf and South Asian expansion plans,” Mr Ali said. He added that negotiations with Kuwait had entered their final stages and that the airline could launch flights from Lahore to Kuwait City by the end of this year.

Airblue – which has plans for an initial public offering next year to fund its $850m acquisition of 14 Airbus A320 aircraft – has a fleet of eight aircraft.

The carrier is already flying to the UK and is eyeing other European and South Asian destinations, including India and major hubs in Scandinavia.

Source: www.thenational.ae


CAA Oblivious To Air Accord Violations By Gulf Carriers

IQBAL MIRZA

KARACHI (August 15 2008): The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is turning a blind eye to the violations of bilateral air agreements by airlines, particularly Gulf carriers by picking up sixth freedom traffic from Pakistan. Bilateral agreements allow only third and fourth freedom, ie, Origin and Destination (O&D) traffic, but the Gulf carriers pick up passengers for their hub from where they are transferred on their flights to destinations in UK and USA.

The CAA appears finds itself helpless in protecting the interests of Pakistani airlines operating, or have shown interest in expanding their network in the Gulf region. The recent example is that of Pakistani private sector carrier, Air Blue, which was allowed landing rights by the Department of Civil Aviation, Sharjah, but suddenly the permission was put on hold resulting in heavy losses to the airlines. The Air Blue had planned to operate to Sharjah with their newly acquired Airbus A-319 from August 14, and had made extensive marketing in this regard.

According to information available here one of the main reasons for this turn around by the Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation was that it had asked for an increase in the frequency for Air Arabia which is operating six flights a week to Pakistan for another six flights. The Air Arabia is Sharjah-based cheapest regional airline, which is fast spreading its wings to catch up with other Gulf carriers.

Air Blue Managing Director Syed Nasir Ali told Business Recorder here on Thursday that following the disruption of planned flights to Sharjah, he visited Abu Dhabi and Muscat and secured landing rights from their Civil Aviation departments. The Air Blue will now start operating four weekly flights to Abu Dhabi from August 24 from Lahore and three weekly flights between Lahore and Muscat from September 15.

He said the Air Blue has acquired two Airbus A319 from a US carrier - Skybus, which went bust on dry lease. These aircraft, which are as good as brand new, would operate on Abu Dhabi and Muscat sectors. Not only the Pakistani private sector carriers, even the national carrier feels strongly about the revision of CAA's policy of deregulation which must be drawn up on the basis of reciprocity to protect the siphoning off traffic, which is badly hurting the interests of these airlines.

Source: www.brecorder.com[/url]

[Abbas Ali]

AirBlue To Get Permission For Sharjah Soon

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority is in negotiations with the concerned body for granting operating permission to Airblue to initiate its flight services from Sharjah very soon, said CAA Deputy Director General (DDG) Vice-Air Marshal Sajid Habib on Friday. Speaking to journalists at the flight launching ceremony of Airblue A-319, he said the airlines regulator has been discussing bilateral agreements with the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of Sharjah. Airblue has added two new A-319 aircraft in into its fleet. It will start scheduled flights through these aircraft from August 18. Airblue Managing Director Nasir Ali said the airline plans to conduct its domestic operations to Multan, Sukkur and Islamabad and Lahore, while on the international route, it plans to fly Kuwait, Muscat, Delhi and Bombay.

Source: Daily Times

[behramjee]

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is turning a blind eye to the violations of bilateral air agreements by airlines, particularly Gulf carriers by picking up sixth freedom traffic from Pakistan. Bilateral agreements allow only third and fourth freedom, ie, Origin and Destination (O&D) traffic, but the Gulf carriers pick up passengers for their hub from where they are transferred on their flights to destinations in UK and USA.

The CAA appears finds itself helpless in protecting the interests of Pakistani airlines operating, or have shown interest in expanding their network in the Gulf region.

this is nothing more than a cry baby statement!

PIA could have all these years picked up more traffic than it currently does from the Middle East region via its KHI hub to India, DAC, KTM, BKK, SIN, NRT, KUL and PEK if it timed its flights to connect convieniently in both directions to atrract passengers.

Unfortunately no one in the route network planning / flight schedule planning department thinks along these lines thus it seems that just because you have visionary people working for EK/QR/EY/KU/WY and not in PIA, its ok for the latter to cry foul over it.

How is it that Sri Lankan Airlines & Thai Airways dont complain about these injustices?