Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways is establishing a second hub in Dubai, making it the only low-fare airline operating out of Dubai International Airport. The airline, which flies a brand new fleet of Airbus A320s powered by new CFM engines and fitted with all-leather seats, launched the new hub with direct flights from Dubai to Bahrain, Kuwait, Mumbai, Kochi, New Delhi, Muscat, and Salalah.

Flights from Dubai will begin on February 8, 2007 with direct flights between Dubai and Bahrain three times a week, while the remaining routes will begin on March 27. Travelers can begin booking their flights immediately through jazeeraairways.com or calling the airline’s call centre.

Jazeera Airways Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai announced the news in a corporate launch held at Dubai Airport’s Exhibition Center. He said: ‘The commercial aviation sector in the Middle East and especially the Gulf region is picking up speed and Jazeera Airways aims to serve this growing market through establishing multiple hubs in the Arabian Peninsula.

‘This is the vision that is held in our name ‘Jazeera’ [Arabic for The Arabian Peninsula]. The establishment of Jazeera Airways in Kuwait in late 2005 was our first step towards realizing this vision. The launch of our new Hub in Dubai today is a confident second step.

‘We are incredibly excited about this and we are keen to share our excitement with others. Starting today, we are offering one million seats for an incredibly low fare of AED48 to all of Jazeera Airways’ 20 destinations from both hubs, Kuwait and Dubai.

‘The seat sale also includes the new routes from Dubai,’ he announced pointing out that the sale is on until February 8, 2007 - 23:59 hours and is available throughout its network.

Different travelers

Boodai said: ‘It is now common for travelers to look for low fares for short haul travel within the Middle East and India. Travelers now value on-time performance and friendly smiles from their cabin crew more than flat beds on their 90 minute flights. This is what we learned during our last 15 months of operations. We also learned that we were not wrong to insist on having our own brand new fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, while many airlines in the world prefer leasing to cut their cost further.

‘Middle East travelers are different in that sense, they are not willing to compromise on quality for the sake of a lower fare; and neither were we, so our commitment to quality did not stop at new aircraft. We made sure to fit all our aircraft with comfortable leather seats, and last year we contracted Lufthansa Technik, one of the leading global aircraft engineering firms, to look after our fleet for the coming years.’

Freedom and independence

Boodai said that Jazeera Airways fully supports empowering travelers with tools that enables them to be more in control of their travel plans.

‘We believe that travelers ultimately want to make their own bookings at their own time without depending on middle men. Our state-of-the-art website delivers that and more. In fact it not only enables travelers to book and pay for their tickets, but also to pick their favorite seat and make changes to their existing bookings.

More destinations from Dubai

With the creation of its second hub in Dubai, Jazeera Airways is confident about growing its business further.

‘We believe that the Dubai International Airport has all the facilities in place for both our business and leisure travelers and that is why we are confident that our new direct flights will prove to be extremely popular with the Dubai community. We will be announcing more non-stop flights to additional destinations through 2007.’
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