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Airblue is a private airline based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's second largest airline with over 30% share of the domestic market.[2]. Airblue operates scheduled flights operating 30 daily services linking seven domestic destinations and international services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat and Manchester. It carried 1.4 million passengers on domestic flights in the 2006-07 fiscal year.[3] Its main base is Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. Airblue makes a fuel stop at Trabzon in Turkey when flying to and from Manchester. This route is the longest route operated by an Airbus A321 aircraft in the world, and the longest scheduled route operated by an Airbus narrowbody aircraft (excluding the Airbus A319LR).[4]
[edit] HistoryThe airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 18 June 2004 with 3 leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft serving Karachi-Lahore and Karachi-Islamabad with three daily flights in each direction. The airline was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, During the first year the airline became very popular[citation needed], which allowed the airline to compete directly with the flag carrier PIA and the two other private carriers. This allowed the airline to expand into more cities in Pakistan including Peshawar, Quetta and Nawabshah. On 14 August 2005 (Pakistan's 58th Independence Day) Airblue launched its first international flight from Karachi to Dubai. [edit] ServicesAirblue was the first airline in Pakistan to introduce e-ticketing, wireless check-in and self check-in kiosk facilities. The airline also became a member of Sabre system that is used by over a hundred airlines to help it with ticket automation service  [edit] OnAir wins Airblue dealOnAir has announced an agreement with Airblue, Pakistan’s fastest growing airline, to launch Mobile OnAir voice and data services on up to 12 of its Airbus A320 aircraft beginning in 2009.[citation needed] [edit] Joint venture with JS AirTo comply with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations the airline started operating on socio-economic routes by flying to Nawabshah in central Sindh however the service was soon suspended because of low passenger load factors and the unsuitability of the A320 aircraft for this route. The suspension meant that Airblue was not compliant with CAA regulations and therefore had to incur penalty fees. To overcome the issue of non-compliance Airblue entered into a joint venture with start-up charter airline JS Air to operate flights on its behalf on socio-economic routes. This represented the first time in Pakistani aviation history that 2 air operators entered into a joint venture arrangement. The first destination under this agreement was the port city of Gwadar which was connected to the Airblue network on 17 June and was served twice daily, except Fridays, from Karachi. The flights were operated using JS Air's 19 seater Beech 1900C aircraft which are specifically suited to serving low yield 'commuter' destinations. This service was also suspended in 2007 due to insufficient demand despite using suitable aircraft.   [edit] CargoAirblue have launched e-Cargo service to cater to air freight markets of Pakistan, UAE and UK. According to a press release[citation needed], e-Cargo will broaden the base of cargo and permit certified agents to book freight directly online opening the inventory through the web. [edit] Cost cutting measuresTo deal with the fuel price hike worldwide, Airblue are converting their fleet to all economy class. This will also be applied to their new aircraft, which will be delivered starting in 2009. They are also ending full meal services and replacing it with sandwiches and pastries. In 2006 Airblue did away with chinaware crockery service for meals in economy class to cut costs and weight, replacing it with plasticware as per normal industry practice. Sometimes scheduled flights are also cancelled for cost cutting measure. All Airblue domestic flights were cancelled on 10th,11th,12th Dec, 2008 due to low passenger load. [edit] DestinationsMain article: Airblue destinations [edit] Future servicesExpansion plans include Bahrain, Bangkok, Birmingham, Colombo, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dhaka, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Gatwick, Mumbai and Singapore, at home they plan to launch Multan and Sialkot.[5][1]. [edit] FleetThe Airblue fleet includes the following aircraft (as of June 2009):[6]
[edit] Achievements and recognitions
[edit] References
[edit] Additional references
[edit] External links
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