Flying high...

Bahrain Air is set to take off into the highly-competitive Middle East aviation market next week.

Positioned as a national carrier with the benefits of being a privately-run budget airline - offering both a business and economy class - it aims to expand its customer base and claim its share of passengers from the current monthly average of 10, 000 passengers, who travel budget from the kingdom.

Leading the airline from the helm is the highly-experienced aviation professional Ibrahim Al Hamer, the airline's managing director.

Confident of realising his ambition of breaking even by the end of 2008, he said: "This is not a charity club, it is a business venture.

"We have to please our investors as well as our customers. We are a very professional, experienced and dedicated team and we have a strong and supportive board."

Plans include an initial public offering, IPO, at the end of three years. While agreeing that the task puts the entire team under a lot of pressure he said that it was not an impossible one.

Mr Al Hamer's know-how of the industry extends from the knowledge and expertise gained as a former chief executive officer of struggling Gulf Air and as a founding committee member of the current market leader, Air Arabia, where he was instrumental in setting up the business plan and the model for the first low cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa region.

His formula for achieving success is simple. Expand the customer base and keep costs to the minimum while continuing to serve the customer.

Mr Al Hamer said that the region's growth can be attributed to strong economic trends in the property market and airline industry.

He said: "The property market in the Middle East is getting very sophisticated. It is safe for investors and very profitable especially in a booming market. The second growing business in the region is the airline industry, which is very challenging.

"We have to thank the government philosophy of becoming more transparent and business-oriented for the economic growth today.

"Investment opportunities are attracting many passengers to Bahrain. Even businessmen are not interested in cutlery or napkins. They want affordable travel which is comfortable and fast."

The airline intends to attract religious passengers to Mecca and Mashhad who currently use other means of travel such as buses or cars. Mr Al Hamer explained: "Budget airlines are focusing on making travel more affordable. We are targeting passengers who rarely travel by air by providing competitive pricing which encourages them to travel more."

Like any shrewd businessman, he said that the key to making profits is to keep costs in check. "To be profitable one has to keep expenses down. In this industry we face a lot of uncontrollable costs such as fuel and salaries and because of increasing competition our yield is coming down. Margins lie in checking the controllable costs.

"We can achieve cost efficiency by employing the right number of people with the right expertise and using good and cheap technology. Thorough selection and adequate usage of sources is important," he added.

Bahrain Air, being the second national carrier, will also enjoy airline traffic rights secured by the government which is an added economic advantage.

The proposed unification of GCC currency in 2010 also signals good news for the traveller and the industry.

While Mr Al Hamer has set his sights on keeping the costs low he does not intend to ignore his customers.

Without revealing the full details, Mr Al Hamer promised: "We will be the talk of the town. We will be customer oriented, safe and comfortable. We will also be efficient and very competitive. We have hired good pilots with a 320 rating and our customer services will reflect the good name of our country."

Bahrain Air is leasing aircrafts from reputed airlines that are being currently fitted and refurbished with the company colours in Italy and its newly-recruited cabin crew are being trained on health and safety procedures at the Jordanian Academy for Aeronautical Training.

The carrier's launch coincides with the country's national day when the first phase of the website will be ready. Mr Al Hamer said, "We will be making enough noise to attract the people in Bahrain."

Finally, on a very positive note, he sends this message to the travelling public of the kingdom: "The launch of Bahrain Air has been long awaited. We are very confident that this venture will work and that we will not disappoint you in any way."

KEY FACTS

Bahrain Air is the first privately owned premium low priced carrier of the kingdom.

The fleet comprises of modern Airbus A320 aircraft.

It will initially fly to 13 destinations and is expected to fly 140 flights every week.

Destinations include: Amman, Alexandria, Beirut, Damascus, Doha, Dubai, Dammam, Jeddah, Khartoum, Kuwait, Riyadh, and Sana'a.

Every aircraft will have 12 seats in the business class and 150 in the economy class.

The first flight is expected to be in late-January next year.

Company capital: BD 10 million authorised capital and BD 8 million issued and paid up capital.

Investment: 68 per cent Bahraini

investors and 32 per cent Saudi

investors