Budget airline to operate out of Jebel Ali

Budget airline to operate out of Jebel Ali
Saifur Rahman, Business Editor Published: March 19, 2008, 14:10

Dubai: The new budget airline announced by the Dubai Government will base its operations at the new Al Maktoum International Airport, a top official told Gulf News on Wednesday.

"We expect to start the airline within a year's time from the Jebel Ali airport," Ghaith Al Ghaith, the airline's new chief executive said in an exclusive interview.

"It will be a new company, separate from the Emirates Group. However, Emirates will help to set up the airline. Its operations will be based in the low-cost terminal of the Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali."

Ghaith could not give any indication of the airline's capital requirements.

"It's too early for us. However, you could be sure that whatever capital requirements we have, the government of Dubai is there to back us up. So, money is not an issue," he said.

Al Ghaith said it was too early for him to offer any details on the airline’s fare structure. "You'll come to know in due course," he said.

Al Ghaith said preliminary work on setting up the office would be done from his current office at the Emirates headquarters.

"I'm still with the Emirates Group. However, my focus will gradually shift in setting up of the new airline," he said.