New private carrier, Eastern Express, will take to the UAE skies early next year to serve Fujairah. Alex de Vos, Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Express, says despite the high cost of fuel, crowded market and economic downturn, the airline has entered the market at the right time: “I agree it’s not the best of situations, but to be honest, we probably entered at the right time. We can get aircraft at reasonably low cost and utilise airports at lower cost. Obviously the fuel price would affect us as well. But then again, the Turboprop aircraft that we are going to fly are purpose built for short routes and uses just about a third of the fuel consumed by a smaller jet,” De Vos said.
Eastern Express expects to take delivery of its first aircraft towards the end of 2011, which will initially be flown twice daily between Fujairah and Abu Dhabi.