EXPATRIATES in the UAE are set to gain a new low cost carrier. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, has instructed concerned authorities to set up the low cost airline company in Dubai.
“While setting fares, the company will be taking the financial and living conditions of passengers into consideration,” Wam reported last month.
Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of the Emirates Group, will also be the chairman of the new airline, while Gaith Al Gaith, executive vice president for commercial operations at Emirates, will be its chief executive officer. “Dubai's open-skies policy encourages the growth of air transport, which has and continues to contribute to the development of this city. The new airline, a low cost carrier, will complement the international air services already provided by Emirates,” Shaikh Ahmad said.
Mike Simon, Emirates' vice president for corporate communications, said, “It is a completely separate airline. Emirates has nothing to do with it except the fact we have the same chairman,” according to a report in the Gulf News.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise - a new aviation investment arm - is placing lease orders for 100 aircraft and analysts expect the new carrier to begin services with DAE's leased aircraft before summer to cash in on the summer traffic.