Ras Al Khaimah Airport seeks more LCCs looking for low cost alternatives to Dubai and Sharjah

Aeropolitical debate in recent times has highlighted how intertwined aviation is with the economy of the United Arab Emirates. However, attention is usually limited to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, only two of the seven emirates comprising the UAE. Sharjah's airport, next to Dubai, has been able to ride on demand, supported by AirArabia's base there. Now another airport - Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), more northeast from Dubai and Sharjah - is looking to grow its portfolio further.

RAK has focused on charter services, primarily from the UK, Germany and Russia. The latter is obviously slowing, but overall RAK wants to de-emphasise the waning charter segment. And although a new service from Qatar Airways will launch in Feb-2016, RAK is pinning its growth on low cost, offering lower charges than Dubai International or Sharjah, the airport said at the recent CAPA LCC Airports Congress in Bangkok. Its own local carrier RAK Airways failed twice, so instead for a local hub RAK turned to a partnership with Sharjah's LCC Air Arabia, which is due to have five aircraft based at RAK. Air Arabia (currently the only scheduled operator) and future carriers can serve two of RAK's main target markets: Saudi Arabia and India. Both face aeropolitical constraints, so other regional growth is more likely. RAK also hopes to attract services from Eastern Asia - perhaps one of the growing number of long haul, low cost operators.