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| Founded | 2003 | |||
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| Commenced operations | 18th June 2004 | |||
| Hubs | Jinnah International Airport | |||
| Focus cities | Allama Iqbal International Airport Benazir Bhutto International Airport Dubai International Airport |
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| Frequent-flyer program | Blue Miles | |||
| Airport lounge | Blue Lounge International[1] | |||
| Fleet size | 5 | |||
| Destinations | 14 | |||
| Parent company | Government of Pakistan | |||
| Headquarters | Islamabad Stock Exchange Towers Islamabad, Pakistan |
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| Key people | Shahid Khaqan Abbasi | |||
| Website | www.airblue.com | |||
Airblue Limited (styled as airblue) is a private airline with its head office on the 12th floor of the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) Towers in Islamabad, Pakistan.[2] It is Pakistan's second largest airline with over 20% share of the domestic market.[3] Airblue operates scheduled flights operating 30 daily services linking four domestic destinations and international services to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat and Manchester. It carried 1.4 million passengers on domestic flights in the 2006–07 fiscal year.[3] Its main base is Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.
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The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 18 June 2004 with 3 leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft serving Karachi–Lahore and Karachi–Islamabad with three daily flights in each direction.[4] The airline was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan.
During the first year the airline became very popular,[5] which allowed the airline to compete directly with the flag carrier PIA and the two other private carriers, flying more than 400,000 passengers in the first year with a load factor of over 90%.[6] This allowed the airline to expand into more cities in Pakistan including Peshawar, Quetta and Nawabshah.[4] On 14 August 2005 (Pakistan's 58th Independence Day) Airblue launched its first international flight from Karachi to Dubai.[4] On June 4, 2007, Airblue launched its inaugural flight to Manchester using the Airbus A321.[7]
Previously the airline's head office was on the ground floor of the Saudi Pak Building in Islamabad.
Airblue serves the following destinations (at December 2011).
Airblue also previously served Faisalabad, Gwadar, Nawabshah and Quetta in Pakistan.[9][10][11].
From January Airblue will begin flying between Islamabad, Istanbul and Manchester, ending the Trabzon fuel stop which was used for the Islamabad-Manchester route previously.
Airblue currently operates a mixture of Airbus A320 and A319s. All aircraft are in a 3 by 3 all economy layout.[12] There are several overhead screens located after several rows. The airline dropped its Business class section due to exogenous economic factors. The layout was 2 by 2 with inflight televisions and leather seating and the cockpit of the airblue planes are all digital.[13]
Airblue was the first airline in Pakistan to introduce e-ticketing, wireless check-in and self check-in kiosk facilities. The airline also became a member of Sabre system that is used by over a hundred airlines to help it with ticket automation service.
OnAir has announced an agreement with Airblue to launch Mobile OnAir voice and data services on up to 12 of its Airbus A320 aircraft beginning in 2009.[14]
Airblue frequent flyer program is called Blue Miles. Passengers are able to initially start on the base level where sign up is free. Once passenger earn enough miles, there are upgrades to the Blue Card followed by the Platinum Card. In May 2009, the airline formed an alliance with The Royal Bank of Scotland Limited (RBS) to launch its summer promotion on its credit cards.[15]
Airblue inaugurated its own premium lounge at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi in November 2008. Nicknamed, the Blue Lounge International, it was designed for business class passengers, credit card holders and privileged customers. The lounge offers a number of Internet facilities, cable television, newspapers and magazines, massage chairs as well as a snack bar. It is located in the international terminal of the airport.
To comply with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations the airline started operating on socio-economic routes by flying to Nawabshah in central Sindh.
To overcome the issue of non-compliance Airblue entered into a joint venture with start-up charter airline JS Air to operate flights on its behalf on socio-economic routes. This represented the first time in Pakistani aviation history that 2 air operators entered into a joint venture arrangement. The first destination under this agreement was the port city of Gwadar which was connected to the Airblue network on 17 June and was served twice daily, except Fridays, from Karachi. The flights were operated using JS Air's 19 seater Beech 1900C aircraft which are specifically suited to serving low yield 'commuter' destinations.
Service to Gwadar ended two years later, JS Air was also shut down in 2010.
To deal with the fuel price hike worldwide, Airblue converted their fleet to all economy class. This will also be applied to their new aircraft. They also ended full meal services and replaced it with snacks on domestic flights. In 2006 Airblue did away with chinaware crockery service for meals on domestic and possibly Gulf routes to cut costs and weight, replacing it with plasticware as per normal industry practice.
Passengers may check-in between two to 48 hours prior to flight departure. This may be done over the counter or at the self-service kiosks. Currently self service kiosks are available at Jinnah International Airport and Allama Iqbal International Airport. Dnata the aviation services company handles the ground and passenger handling for the airline at all of the airports the airline operates from. Gate Gourmet provides food and beverage services to the airline.
Airblue have launched e-Cargo service to cater to air freight markets of Pakistan, UAE and UK.[16] According to a press release, e-Cargo will broaden the base of cargo and permit certified agents to book freight directly online opening the inventory through the web.
As Of January 2012 Airblue Fleet Consists Of Following Aircraft As Average Age Of 3.6 Years:
In November 2007, Airblue signed an agreement to purchase eight more A320 aircraft bringing the airline's total order up to 14. The deal is worth $520 million at catalogue prices. The aircraft will be configured to seat 157 passengers in 2 classes. "We're looking at expanding our destinations to Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bangkok, Malaysia and Singapore over the next three years," Shahid Abbasi, Air Blue's chief operating officer, said at the signing ceremony at the Dubai airshow.[17]
Airblue Flight 202 crashed on 28 July 2010 near Islamabad in Margalla Hills, killing all 146 passengers and six crew members on board.
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