United Arab Emirates (UAE) domestic carrier Rotana Jet has launched its first operations from Dubai with a new link to Sir Bani Yas Island and Abu Dhabi’s AlBateen Executive Airport. The three times weekly flights were inaugurated on August 1, 2013 and are operated using a 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145.

They follow the successful launch of flights from Abu Dhabi AlBateen and/or Abu Dhabi International to Al Ain, Delma Island, Fujairah and Sir Bani Yas Island last year after the former charter company switched its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) with the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) from Part 135 to Part 121, enabling scheduled operations.

The journey between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two most developed cities across the UAE, will be just a 20 minute block sector and will appeal mainly to business travellers attempting to avoid the sometimes difficult road journey between the two points. However, with initial one-way fares from AED150 (approximately $41), some of the passengers will paying less than the average taxi fare between the two cities, which start from around AED200.

“Demand for connecting cities within the UAE has steadily grown, and customers have been requesting a direct connectivity between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and between Dubai and Sir Bani Yas Island for some time now,” said Rajendran Vellapalath, Commercial and Planning Director, Rotana Jet. "As a customer-driven airline, we are glad to be the first to facilitate this connectivity, which we believe will create a wide range of new options for the UAE's tourism and business sectors."

The new link between Dubai and Sir Bani Yas Island will enhance connectivity to the nature-based tourism destination, which has been developed by Tourism Development & Investment Company, who is working as a partner with Rotana Jet to support the launch of this new route.

Ahmed Al Fahim, executive director of Marketing, Communications, Sales and Leasing at the company, said: “The launch of the Dubai to Sir Bani Yas flight follows our recent announcement of increased flights by Rotana Jet from Abu Dhabi to the island, reflecting its ever-increasing popularity as an exceptional destination in the UAE. This is also evident with the recent opening of the Anantara Al Yamm Villa Resort - Sir Bani Yas, our latest development on the island.”

According to MIDT data, an estimated 135,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew on domestic UAE flights during the year ending May 2013. Rotana Jet had a 36.8 per cent share of this traffic, transporting around 50,000 passengers. RAK Airways, the only other UAE carrier to provide scheduled domestic flights is the dominant operator with a 53.5 per cent traffic share of domestic demand from its flights between Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi.

In the table below we highlight Rotana Jet’s existing domestic passenger flows, which show its flights from Abu Dhabi International Airport have a much stronger performance than its services from AlBateen Executive Airport.