Shaheen Air
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| Founded | 1993 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 25 October 1994 | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Fleet size | 17 | ||||||
| Destinations | 21 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Karachi, Pakistan | ||||||
| Key people | Kashif sehbai , chair | ||||||
| Website |
shaheenair | ||||||
Shaheen Air (Urdu: شاہین ایَر) is a private Pakistani airline with its head office on the grounds of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.[1] Shaheen Air, which provides passenger, cargo and charter services, serves the major cities of Pakistan and the Persian Gulf.
It was founded in December 1993 and commenced operations on 25 October 1994. The airline focuses on cities in northern Pakistan, rather than Karachi. The airline's primary hub is Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, with secondary hubs at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad and at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.
History
The airline was founded by Khalid Mehmood Sehbai who was the airline's first chairman. The airline is named after the Shaheen falcon, Pakistan's national bird. At first the airline introduced nationwide flights to countrywide destinations. The airline introduced many different flights, but operated mainly between the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Quetta.
Shaheen Air Cargo is a division of Shaheen Air International that was established in 1993, soon after the inception of the airline. Shaheen Air provides special services for sending small consignments that are time-sensitive in nature.[2]
On 22 May 2004, the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAA) grounded Shaheen Air as the airline owed it millions of rupees. Three days later the airline was cleared by the CAA to resume its domestic and international operations. The clearance letter was issued by CAA following receipt of a payment from Shaheen Air International towards the outstanding dues and funds. The same year, Shaheen Air International (SAI) became Shaheen Air and the airline introduced a new livery and corporate website.
Today, Shaheen Air is Pakistan's second largest airline next to the flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines. In its international operations, Shaheen Air also operates between Pakistan and numerous destinations in the Middle East. Shaheen Air has started flight operations to Riyadh with three different routes from Pakistan.[3]
Shaheen Air started its own maintenance repair organization (MRO) by the name of Shaheen Engineering and Aircraft Maintenance Services (SEAMS) which aims to provide maintenance services to Shaheen Air as well as other regional and international airlines.
It has been announced that Shaheen Air will suspend operations to Manchester Airport from 15 February 2017 due to reported issues with aircraft availability and maintenance issues.[4]
Destinations
Shaheen Air mainly operates on domestic and Gulf routes. In 2015 it became the only private airline from Pakistan to fly east, with non-stop flights from Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China; and more recently commenced services between Islamabad and Manchester. Several other destinations are also planned in Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain, Qatar, Denmark, Norway, Singapore and Italy; as well as Shanghai.[5]
Fleet
Current fleet
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Shaheen Air operates the following aircraft as of March 2017:[6]
| Aircraft | In service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 6 | 1 | 150 | Deliveries from January to June 2017 | |
| Airbus A320-200 | 8 | — | 168 | ||
| 174 | |||||
| Airbus A330-200 | 4 | — | 326 | ||
| Total | 18 | 1 | |||
Previously operated
- Airbus A300B4-203[7]
- Airbus A310-300[7]
- Airbus A321-200[7]
- Airbus A330-300
- Boeing 737-200
- Boeing 737-400
- Boeing 737-800[8]
- Boeing 767-200ER[9]
- Tupolev Tu-154M
- Yakovlev Yak-42D[10]
Accidents and incidents
- 22 April 2012 - the main landing gear of a Boeing 737-400 operating as Flight 122 from Islamabad to Karachi collapsed during its landing at Karachi. No injuries were reported among the 122 passengers and 6 crew on board.[11]
- 24 September 2015 - a Boeing 737-400 registered AP-BJR and operating as Flight 791 took off from a taxiway instead of the runway while departing from Sharjah. The aircraft was undamaged in the incident.[12]
- 23 November 2015 - the main landing gear of a Boeing 737-400 registration AP-BJO, operating as Flight 142, collapsed during landing. There were 112 passengers and 7 crew members on board; 10 passengers were injured.[13]
References
- ↑ "Contact Us > Domestic." Shaheen Air. Retrieved on 28 July 2010. "Head Office Shaheen Air International Terminal-1 Road, Jinnah International Airport, Karachi-75200, Pakistan"
- ↑ Shaheen Air Cargo services accessed 2009-12-31
- ↑ "Shaheen Air flights for Riyadh - Anna Aero" Shaheen Air inaugurates operations in Riyadh with three routes from Pakistan
- ↑ https://www.geo.tv/latest/128572-Shaheen-Air-risks-lives-of-passengers-by-operating-faulty-plane
- ↑ Shaheen plan network expansion in Europe and Far East
- ↑ "Pakistan's Shaheen Air Int'l to lease seven A319s". ch-aviation. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
- 1 2 3 Shaheen Air historic fleet
- ↑ Shaheen Air 737=800 fleet information
- ↑ Shaheen Air fleet 767 information
- ↑ Shaheen Air Yak 42 information
- ↑ http://avherald.com/h?article=44e6328b&opt=0
- ↑ http://avherald.com/h?article=4a81e570&opt=0
- ↑ http://avherald.com/h?article=48ec2e81&opt=0
External links
Media related to Shaheen Air at Wikimedia Commons