Quote: Sharjah-based budget carrier Air Arabia may open a second hub in the Middle East, the Mediterranean region or India, which would help the budget carrier solidify its route network.
CEO Adel Ali said he was in preliminary planning stages to open a second base of operations, after recording a 33 per cent increase in net profits in the first quarter of 2007 to Dh43.4 million, compared with the previous quarter.
A second hub for Air Arabia, which completed an initial public offering in March, would help the budget carrier solidify its route network, link in high-value markets in surrounding regions such as the Europe, and give it a leg up to new budget carrier upstarts in the Middle East.
Can't really see them getting permission to operate out of India at present though.
Cedarjet From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7703 posts, RR: 55 Reply 1, posted (6 years 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 1583 times:
If it's the Levant, it'll be Beirut. Damascus is too old fashioned and heavily regulated; Amman better but BEY has a modern facility that is capable of handling more traffic than it currently gets, and is completely deregulated - anyone can fly to and from BEY to anywhere else.
fly Saha Air 707s daily from Tehran's downtown Mehrabad to Mashhad, Kish Island and Ahwaz
EurostarVA From Bahrain, joined May 2002, 1296 posts, RR: 8 Reply 3, posted (6 years 2 weeks 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 1556 times:
Quoting Cedarjet (Reply 1): If it's the Levant, it'll be Beirut. Damascus is too old fashioned and heavily regulated; Amman better but BEY has a modern facility that is capable of handling more traffic than it currently gets, and is completely deregulated - anyone can fly to and from BEY to anywhere else.
That's not quite accurate. As far as I know, any foreign airline can fly an unlimited number of frequencies and routes into Beirut. However, airlines based in Lebanon other than MEA do not have such privileges. An example of this is MenaJet, which tried fruitlessly to offer low-cost scheduled flights to compete with MEA.
An Air Arabia hub in Beirut, in the eyes of Lebanon's government, will be an equal threat to MEA's monopoly which I believe will last another 10-15 years according to a signed agreement.
I believe Lebanon's government may reverse this policy in an effort to sustain the growth of passenger traffic through BEY, during a time of political turmoil in the country. If you ask me, this will work in bringing in price-sensitive tourists or Lebanese citizens visiting home more often. However, it remains to be seen how this possibility will affect MEA's eventual privatization.
HUYfan From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2001, 1372 posts, RR: 3 Reply 4, posted (6 years 2 weeks 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1547 times:
Beirut needs to change it's attitude. If they continue to protect MEA, which is a very good airline, they are not going to stimulate the tourism they keep moaning about that isn't coming to Lebanon.
If Lebanon wants the tourist numbers to increase, they need to stimulate the travel market to, and from Beirut, and this will not happen if MEA continues to be cocooned.
It actually really annoys me, when I go to Beirut, a lot of the staff at the airport treat customers very badly, and are unwelcoming. If Lebanon wants tourism, they have to be more receptive to the attitudes of international travellers.
RJAF From Jordan, joined Jan 2007, 301 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (6 years 2 weeks 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 1514 times:
Amman should be a great choice for Air Arabia. Queen Alia Int'l Airport will be receivng shortly a major facelift and undergo a sizeable expansion. Not sure though about the monopoly of Royal Jordanian and how long it will last. Definately not Gaza and forget Damascus of course...Beirut, may be, but they face the same competition fears for MEA as with RJ for Jordan. Also, not to forget Jordan is much more politically stable than Lebanon which I'm sure would be a big factor. Regardless of Air Arabia's choice, this will be good news for the Levant region.
CV580Freak From Bahrain, joined Jul 2005, 1033 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (6 years 2 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 1408 times:
I reckon it's just a bit of sabre rattling after Jazzerra moved into DXB, I think they should stick to what they are good at and look to new routes - Kabul for instance - there MUST be traffic between the GCC and Kabul rather than the rusty ex soviet hulks you have to travel on.........
One day you are the pigeon, the next the statue ...
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From United Arab Emirates, joined Dec 2006, 594 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7703 posts, 
From India, joined Jan 2001, 31201 posts, 
From Bahrain, joined May 2002, 1296 posts, 
From Jordan, joined Jan 2007, 301 posts, 
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