New airline - or flight of fancy?
By MARK SUMMERS
A TOP aviation official yesterday denied Bahrain was set to be a key base for a new international airline, despite claims to the contrary on the carrier's website.
The new carrier, calling itself Ajwaa, has begun construction of a website which names Bahrain as the site of its head office, displays images of commercial airliners with the Bahraini flag on their livery and advertises flights to a number of international destinations from Bahrain International Airport.
However, Civil Aviation Affairs Assistant Under-Secretary for Airport Services Nabeel Taqi rejected any possibility of a new carrier of that name coming to Bahrain.
"Forget this, it's all nonsense," he said.
"We don't have this kind of airline. We have not authorised them to operate out of Bahrain."
An official at Ajwaa's Bahrain office, who asked not to be named, had earlier confirmed the new venture was gearing up to fly to destinations from this country, but said they were unable to reveal any further information.
The firm's website
www.flyajwaa.com features advertising for two flights a day to Cairo - one from Bahrain and one from Dammam in Saudi Arabia - at a cost of BD67 for a one-way trip.
Under the motto "discover our friendly skies", Ajwaa - which is Arabic for airspace - also lists Damascus, Dubai, Jeddah, Karachi and Mumbai as destinations it plans to serve.
A well-placed aviation source told GDN that the firm had plans to source infrastructure from Egypt to operate from Bahrain, but said the firm had not yet submitted a request for the necessary permits to allow it to fly to and from Bahrain International Airport.
Mr Taqi was emphatic in stating that whatever its website might suggest, Ajwaa has not been granted permission to start operations from Bahrain.
"I am telling you it's not true," he said.
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