Middle East airlines increase global market share (page 2 of 2)

Meanwhile, the carrier has added four frequencies a week to its daily services from Kuala Lumpur to Doha, while Bali has moved to a daily operation via Singapore, up from four weekly flights previously served through Kuala Lumpur.

The airline's flights from Jakarta to Doha have been de-linked from Singapore and the airline now operates a dedicated non-stop service between the Indonesian and Qatari capital cities.

Other carriers boost services

However, it is not only the big three carriers that are ramping up in the Middle East. FlyDubai has announced that it will start twice daily flights to Kuwait City and Muscat in March, bringing its total destinations to 13. Ghaith Al Ghaith, the carrier's CEO, said 2010 would be 'a very busy year of route announcements for the carrier'.

Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia said that it is hoping to launch operations at its third hub in Egypt in April, following in the footsteps of its Moroccan hub launched last May. By offering flights to 11 destinations in Europe and North Africa, that hub helped the airline attract 11 million passengers in 2009.

In Saudi, Nas Air said it will launch direct flights from the kingdom to Mumbai four times a week from the end of March. The carrier also plans to add more routes to other Indian cities including New Delhi, Cochin and Calicut.

Royal Jordanian is set to launch regular direct service to Medina, Saudi Arabia, beginning with two weekly flights. President/CEO Hussein Dabbas said that opening this route will benefit RJ passengers who wish to visit the kingdom for Hajj and Umrah. The airline now directly operates to 56 destinations around the world.