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Airblue airline Services
Cabin
Airblue currently operates a mixtue of Airbus A321, A320 and A319s.
All aircraft are in a 3 by 3 all economy layout. 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.
eTicketing
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 deal
OnAir has announced an agreement with Airblue, Pakistan’s
fastest growing airline, to launch Mobile OnAir voice and data
services on up to 12 of its Airbus A320 aircraft beginning in
2009.
Frequent Flyer Program
Airblue frequent flyer program is called Blue Miles. Passengers
are able to initally start on the base level where sign up is
free. Once passenger earn enough miles, the 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.
Lounges
Airblue inaugrated 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 wing of the airport.
Joint venture with JS Air
To comply with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations the
airline started operating on socio-economic routes by flying to
Nawabshah in central Sindh however the service was soon suspended
because of low passenger load factors and the unsuitability of
the A320 aircraft for this route. The suspension meant that Airblue
was not compliant with CAA regulations and therefore had to incur
penalty fees.
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. This service
was also suspended in 2007 due to insufficient demand despite
using suitable aircraft.
Cost cutting measures
To deal with the fuel price hike worldwide, Airblue are converting
their fleet to all economy class. This will also be applied to
their new aircraft, which will be delivered starting in 2009.
They are also ending full meal services and replacing it with
sandwiches and pastries. In 2006 Airblue did away with chinaware
crockery service for meals in economy class to cut costs and weight,
replacing it with plasticware as per normal industry practice.
Sometimes scheduled flights are also cancelled for cost cutting
measures.
Ground services
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. 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.
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