Re-born at Ras Al Khaimah; two routes already operating, RAK Airways Bangladesh and Egypt routes start this month

The relaunched RAK Airways won anna.aero Route of the Week in mid-October for Kozhikode in southwest India and Jeddah. Celebrating the launch of Jeddah flights were the airline’s chairman Sheikh Omar Bin Saqr Al Qassimi and vice chairman Sheikh Salem Bin Sultan Al Qassimi, before being joined by CEO Omar Jahameh and officials in cutting the cake.

Not many airlines get a second chance, but RAK Airways, based in Ras Al Khaimah (one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates), appears to be a rare exception. First launched in 2007, the airline suspended scheduled flights in September 2008, but has now emerged once more. The re-branded airline began flights from Ras Al Khaimah airport (RKT) in mid-October to Kozhikode (CCJ) in India with five weekly flights, and Jeddah (JED) in Saudi Arabia with four weekly flights. According to the airline’s timetable, neither of these destinations are served on a Monday or a Tuesday.

From 15 December, the carrier is adding three more destinations using a second aircraft; Cairo (Egypt), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Chittagong (Bangladesh), all of which will be served with three weekly flights. Again, none of these flights operate on a Monday. The schedule suggests that at least one further destination could be added, operating on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday morning.

The only other scheduled carrier operating at Ras Al Khaimah airport is Oman Air, which has been offering daily flights to Oman since the beginning of May. Ras Al Khaimah is located just 90 kilometres from Dubai and a recently completed highway means that the local metropolis can be reached in just 45 minutes from the airport.