Tag Archives: Sharjah International Airport

Gama Support Services, a division of global business aviation services company Gama Aviation, has signed commercial agreements with Sharjah Airport Authority for the development and operation of a private aviation terminal at Sharjah International Airport. Estimated to cost AED 110 million ($30 million) to get built, this purpose-built, integrated business aviation complex would provide ground handling services to business jet owners, business jets, and crew members. The terminal would be spread over an area of 40,000 square metres and will include two aircraft hangars that would be able to accommodate business aircraft up to the size of Airbus ACJ & Boeing BBJ (ACJ aircraft are based on the Airbus A320 family, while BBJ are based on Boeing 737 commercial aircraft frames). Further, it will also be complemented with rest areas, lounges, duty-free shops, passport control and customs. The development will also include an aircraft fueling unit, an aircraft parking apron for business jets and ample car parking adjacent to the terminal.

Passenger traffic grew by 3 per cent year on year at Sharjah International Airport during the last quarter, as the airport handled 2.75 million passengers during April, May and June, compared with 2.66 million during the same period of 2016. April saw the maximum increase, which was of 6 per cent. Aircraft movements at the airport also increased by 3 percent this quarter, with the total of scheduled and non-scheduled movements in Q2 2017 rising to 18,801, compared with 18,183 in Q2 2016. Of the different airlines playing a role in this rise, Air Arabia, the largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa, has had a prominent role. It launched a number of new services from its Sharjah hub this year, including permanent services to Batumi in Georgia, Baku in Azarbajian, Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa and Sohar in Oman. The airline also launched a summer-special non-stop service to the Turkish port city of Trabzon.

Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC), announced that starting July 4, 2017, Hargeisa will be the newest African destination to be added to its growing international network. Air Arabia entered the African market in 2004 and currently serves six destinations across Egypt, Sudan and Kenya from its main hub. The new flights to Hargeisa, Somaliland will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, departing Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) at 03:45 hours and arriving at Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA) at 06:15 local time. The return flight will depart from Hargeisa at 06:55, landing in Sharjah at 11:25 local time.

Sharjah International Airport handled 2.741 million passengers during the first quarter of 2017, registering 2 percent growth compared to the first three months of last year. The airport has experienced continuous growth during the past five years, handling 11 million passengers during 2016. Sharjah handled 969,633 passengers in January, 827,369 February and 944,038 in March 2017, peaking at 4 percent growth in January (compared to 2016 levels). Aircraft movements at the airport increased by 3 percent to 18,569 scheduled and non-scheduled movements in Q1 2017 compared with 18,054 in Q1 2016. Several airlines have added new Sharjah flights this year. Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia launched a new services to Baku in March, operating four weekly flights from the Azarbajiani capital. The airline also launched a schedule of seasonal flights between Iran’s Kermanshah airport and Sharjah on the occasion of ‘Nowruz’, the new Iranian year. Later in the year, Air Arabia plans to operate a new seasonal non-stop service to the historic Turkish port city of Trabzon starting on June 23. Meanwhile, IndiGo, India’s largest budget-carrier, introduced a daily non-stop service from Kozhikode (CCJ) to Sharjah on 20 March and from Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) to Sharjah during April. Another Indian budget carrier, SpiceJet, plans to launch new flights to Sharjah by the end of 2017. Sharjah International Airport’s growth has been driven by its strategic location, the success of the emirate’s in-bound tourism industry and the expansion of Sharjah-headquartered Airquarter of 2017, registering 2 percent growth compared to the first three months of last year. The airport has experienced continuous growth during the past five years, handling 11 million passengers during 2016.

Beginning March 23, 2017, Air Arabia will operate four weekly flights from its main hub at Sharjah International Airport to Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, also expected to be the airline’s first route launch of the year. The addition of the new route follows an agreement between Air Arabia, Azerbaijan Airlines and Azerbaijan authorities aimed at promoting connections between Baku and Sharjah. Located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan’s largest city is also the largest city on the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus region. Famed for its medieval walled old city and cultural status, Baku is the scientific, industrial and financial centre of Azerbaijan. The city recently received global attention after hosting the European Grand Prix (now renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix). Air Arabia added 9 new routes to its global network in 2016 from its five operating hubs in the UAE, Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. The airline added new services from its main Sharjah hub to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to Batumi in Georgia. Air Arabia currently serves over 120 routes from its five operational hubs.

IndiGo, India’s largest budget-carrier, plans to introduce two daily routes to Sharjah International Airport, which will become its sixth international destination. The airline announced the launch of daily non-stop Sharjah-Kozhikode (CCJ) flights from 20 March and daily non-stop Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) flights from April 8. Headquartered in Gurgaon (Gurugram), India, IndiGo is India’s largest passenger airline with a market share of 40.3 percent (December 2016). IndiGo is ranked among the top ten best low-cost airlines in the world by leading consumer aviation website Skytrax and among the 10 On-Time Performers in the Asia Pacific region by FlightStats, a leader in global flight information services. The airline plans to to operate 857 daily flights connecting 43 destinations from March 2017. Sharjah-based Air Arabia already operates flights between the emirate and 13 key Indian destinations. Meanwhile, Air India Express added three new routes last year connecting Sharjah with Mumbai (SAHAR), Chandigarh (IXC) and Tiruchirapalli (TRZ) airports, bringing its total number of direct Sharjah services to seven. The low-cost airline also operates direct flights to Sharjah from Kochi (COK), Kozhikode (CCJ), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) and Varanasi (VNS).Jet Airways now flies daily to Sharjah from Kozhikode, or Calicut (CCJ) and Kochi (COK), both in the south-west coast Indian state of Kerala. The airline launched a daily service from Mangaluru in Karnataka state in 2016, but stopped flying the route at the end of the year due to operational reasons.

Sharjah International Airport registered a 10 percent year-on-year increase in passengers, handling 11 million passengers from January to December 2016. The airport passed the 10 million passenger mark for the first time in 2015, showing 5.5 percent growth. Since then, the airport has continued to show strong growth. Airport passengers increased 12 percent during the first quarter of 2016, 11 percent during Q2 and 13 percent during Q3, reaching one million passengers per month for the first time in August 2016. Aircraft movements at Sharjah International Airport increased by 6 percent to 75,900 scheduled and non-scheduled movements in 2016 compared with 71,426 in 2015. Sharjah International Airport’s growth has been driven by its strategic location, the success of Sharjah’s in-bound tourism industry and the expansion of Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia. The airport’s ideal location, close to Sharjah city, Dubai city and the main highways connecting the country’s seven emirates, has made it a convenient hub for both business and leisure travelers.Whilst Air Arabia hasn’t yet announced overall figures for 2016, the airline served over 2.27 million passengers during the first nine months of 2016, a 14 percent increase compared to the 2 million passengers during the same period of 2015. The airline currently operates a fleet of 46 Airbus A320 aircraft offering flights to over 120 destinations in 33 countries from five hubs across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Sharjah International Airport handled 2,996,433 passengers during July, August and September this year, a 13 percent increase over the same period in 2015. Overall, the number of inbound, outbound, transit and transfer passengers handled during the first nine months of the year increased by 12 percent, compared to the same period last year, to total 8,344,293. Sharjah airport recorded its first million-passenger month in August, with the months of July and September falling just slightly short of the million passenger mark. Meanwhile, 20,362 aircraft take-offs and landings were handled during the July to September period, 8 percent more than the equivalent period during 2015. Airlines have added a number of new connections from Sharjah International Airport this year, including new Air Arabia routes from Sharjah to Batumi (Georgia) and to Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Indian international airlines Air India Express and Jet Airways have both launched new Sharjah routes this year catering to business travellers and tourists, plus Indian expatriates working in the UAE. Jet Airways added new daily routes to Mangaluru (IXE) and Kozhikode (CCJ), while Air India Express has introduced new flights to Mumbai (SAHAR), Chandigarh (IXC) and Tiruchirapalli (TRZ) airports. Turkish airline, AtlasGlobal, also launched a new Sharjah route in April, adding a three-times-weekly service to Istanbul Atatürk International Airport. More new airline routes are planned for the next few months including the addition of a Hyderabad to Sharjah service from Jet Airways in December 2016 and a new Sharjah to Baku service from Air Arabia scheduled for 23 March 2017. Sharjah International Airport surpassed 10 million passengers per annum for the first time during 2015 and plans to handle 25 million passengers per annum by the …

Sharjah International Airport has recorded its first million-passenger month, handling 1,041,870 inbound, outbound, transfer and transit passengers during the month of August, a 12 per cent increase on the 928,897 passengers handled during August 2015, according to the airport’s latest statistics. Sharjah airport surpassed 10 million passengers per annum for the first time during 2015, registering an annual passenger growth rate of 5.5 percent compared with 2014. Meanwhile, the airport has had a healthy average monthly passenger growth rate of 12 percent during 2016, compared with last year’s passenger numbers. Overall, 7,349,333 passengers were handled by Sharjah International Airport during the first eight months of 2016. In another first, 7,001 aircraft movements were recorded during August, 10.5 percent more aircraft movements than during the same month in 2015. (Source Shurooq)

Air India Express, the Kochi-headquartered budget arm of Air India, is expected to add two new routes to Sharjah International Airport next month, bringing the total number of its routes between Sharjah and Indian destinations up to seven. The airline will introduce three non-stop flights per week each from Chandigarh (IXC), the state capital of Punjab and Haryana, and from Tiruchirapalli (TRZ) in Tamil Nadu state. India is one of the United Arab Emirates’ leading trade partners, accounting for some 9.8 percent of the country’s total non-oil trade, buying 14.9 percent of the Emirates’ exports and 8.7 percent of its re-exports. The total volume of bilateral trade between India and the UAE is expected to increase from $60 billion in 2014 to $100 billion by the year 2020. India is also the largest single origin of investors for Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free Zone and Sharjah International Airport Free Zone (SAIF Zone). Air India Express has been expanding its services to destinations in the UAE, including daily Mumbai-Dubai, Mumbai-Sharjah, New Delhi-Dubai and New Delhi-Abu Dhabi routes, which it added earlier this year. According to the airline, the number of its weekly flights between India and the UAE increased from 107 flights to 146 flights per week before the summer. The low-cost airline currently operates five routes with a total of 15 weekly flights to Sharjah International Airport. Air India Express now flies direct to Sharjah from Kochi (COK), Kozhikode (CCJ), Mumbai (SAHAR), New Delhi (DEL), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) and Varanasi (VNS. India is well connected to Sharjah, with Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia operating flights between Sharjah and 13 Indian destinations. Jet Airways, India’s second largest airline, operates direct daily flights on Sharjah-Kochi and Sharjah-Mangaluru …