Airblue

Airblue
Founded	2003; 21 years ago
Commenced operations	18 June 2004; 20 years ago
Operating bases	Abu Dhabi; Dubai–International; Islamabad; Jeddah; Karachi; Lahore;
Frequent-flyer program	Blue Miles
Subsidiaries	Airbahn
Fleet size	12+17
Destinations	20
Headquarters	Islamabad Stock Exchange Towers; Islamabad-44000, Pakistan
Key people	Tariq Chaudhary (Founder & CEO)
Website	www.airblue.com

Airblue Limited (stylized as airblue) is a private Pakistani airline with its head office on the ground floor of the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) Towers in Islamabad, Pakistan.^[2] Airblue operates scheduled domestic and international flights, the latter to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. As of February 2024, the airline serves three countries and 17 routes.^[1]^[3]

History

The airline was established in 2003 by Tariq Chaudhary, a Pakistani-American IT professional.^[4] Airblue started operations on 18 June 2004 with three leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft serving Karachi–Lahore, and Karachi–Islamabad with three daily flights in each direction.^[5] The airline was inaugurated in 2004 by Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

During the first year the airline became very popular,^[6] which allowed the airline to compete directly with the flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines and the two other private carriers on mostly domestic front, flying more than 400,000 passengers in the first year with a load factor of over 90%.^[7] The airline expanded its domestic network to include flights to Peshawar and Quetta. It also had to fly the routes known as socia economic routes or tertiary routes as part of the licence from Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Hence flights to Sukker and Nawabshah were added briefly as part of the tertiary routes under obligation.^[5]

On 14 August 2005 Airblue launched its first international flight from Karachi to Dubai.^[5] On June 4, 2007, Airblue launched its inaugural flight to Manchester using the Airbus A321.^[8] Due to range issue the Manchester route was initially routed through Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport and later via Trabzon airport. These stops were only refueling stops where the plane landed, passengers disembarked and waited in the transit hall. The aircraft refueled and passngers boarded the plane again to ontonue their flight to destination.

Airblue changed its IATA code from ED to PA in June 2012, the new code originally belonged to the defunct and once iconic carrier Pan American World Airways. In 2011 the airline launched service to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport - a route that was soon terminated.

In June 2012, Airblue finalised an agreement to acquire one Airbus A320 and two leased A340-300s for existing and new international routes. It also looked at add turboprop aircraft for its domestic routes. An ATR 72-600 registration OM-AQD, construction number 1162, built in 2014 owned by Slovakian Airline Quick Duck also came to Pakistan on weklease. But the plan was dropped due to capacity isues of the aircraft. Airblue wanted to use these ATRs mainly for its socio economic or teriary routes.

The A340s joined the fleet in October 2012, enabling the airline to strengthen its Manchester route with nonstop flights as well as launch a second UK destination Birmingham in September 2013 and connect both stations with Lahore. The A340s later also flew to the Middle East. Technical issues related to the aircraft eventually led to them being phased out by January 2014; they had been leased for a five-year term. UK operations also ended with Birmingham being dropped after just three months' service and Manchester ending in January 2014.

Destinations

Airblue serves the following destinations as of August 2018,^[9] the list also includes former routes.

Country	City	Airport	Status	Refs
Oman	Muscat	Muscat International Airport	Terminated	^[10]
Pakistan	Faisalabad	Faisalabad International Airport	Terminated	^[11]
	Islamabad	Islamabad International Airport	Base	^[10]
	Karachi	Jinnah International Airport	Base	^[10]
	Lahore	Allama Iqbal International Airport	Base	^[10]
	Multan	Multan International Airport		^[10]^[12]
	Peshawar	Bacha Khan International Airport		^[10]
	Quetta	Quetta International Airport		^[11]
	Rahim Yar Khan	Shaikh Zayed International Airport	Terminated	^[10]
	Sialkot	Sialkot International Airport	Terminated	^[10]
	Skardu	Skardu International Airport		^[13]
Saudi Arabia	Dammam	King Fahd International Airport	Terminated	^[10]
	Jeddah	King Abdulaziz International Airport	Base	^[10]
	Medina	Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport		^[10]
	Riyadh	King Khalid International Airport		^[10]
Turkey	Istanbul	Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport	Terminated	^[14]
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	Zayed International Airport	Base	^[10]
	Dubai	Dubai International Airport	Base	^[10]
	Ras Al Khaimah	Ras Al Khaimah International Airport		^[10]
	Sharjah	Sharjah International Airport		^[10]
United Kingdom	Birmingham	Birmingham Airport	Terminated	^[15]
United Kingdom	Manchester	Manchester Airport	Terminated	^[16]

Services

Cabin

The interior of an Airblue Airbus A320-200

The interior of an Airblue Airbus A321-200

All aircraft in the fleet have a 3-by-3 layout in an all-economy cabin; and have overhead video screens. Airblue formerly had a business class section but dropped it due to exogenous economic factors.

eTicketing

Airblue was the first airline in Pakistan to introduce e-ticketing, wireless check-in, and self-check-in kiosk facilities. The airline also uses Sabre, a ticket distribution system.

Frequent-flyer program

The Airblue frequent flyer program is called "Blue Miles". Passengers start at the base level where sign-up is free. Once passengers earn enough miles, there are upgrades to the Blue Card followed by the Platinum Card. In May 2009, the airline allied with Faysal Bank to offer credit cards.^[17]

Lounges

Airblue inaugurated its premium lounge at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi in November 2008. It has since been closed.^[when?] Named the Blue Lounge International, it was designed for business class passengers, credit card holders, and privileged customers. The lounge offered Internet facilities, cable television, newspapers and magazines, massage chairs, and a snack bar. It was located in the international terminal of the airport.^{[citation needed]}

Cargo operations

Airblue has launched an e-Cargo service to cater to air freight markets of Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.^[18] According to a press release, e-Cargo will broaden the base of cargo and permit certified agents to book freight directly online opening the inventory through Web.

Fleet

Current fleet

As of August 2024^[update], Airblue operates the following aircraft.

Aircraft	In service	Orders
Airbus A320-200	5
Airbus A321-200	5
Airbus A321neo	2	0
Total	12

Former fleet

Airblue Airbus A319 taxing at Dubai International Airport on April 26, 2012.

A now-retired Airblue Airbus A340-300 taking off from Istanbul Atatürk Airport after maintenance.

Airblue Airbus A321-200 leased from Windrose Airlines at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in June 2016.


Aircraft	Introduced	Retired
Airbus A319-100	2008	2014
Airbus A330-200^[19]	2015	2016
Airbus A340-300	2012	2014
ATR 72-600^[20]	2015	2015

Accidents and incidents

Airblue Flight 202, registration AP-BJB crashed as on 28 July 2010. The aircraft is seen here at Manchester Airport on June 24, 2010, 1 month before.^[21]

On July 28, 2010, Airblue Flight 202, flying a domestic route from Karachi to Islamabad with 146 passengers and 6 crew on board crashed into the Margalla Hills. The aircraft was on final approach to Benazir Bhutto International Airport during poor weather conditions when the aircraft impacted the Margalla Hills about 10 nm (18.52 km) north of the airport at an elevation of about 1,000 feet (300 m) above the city. Radio contact with the aircraft was lost at approx. 09:45 local time. All 152 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were killed in the crash.^[22] The aircraft involved was an Airbus A321-200 registered as AP-BJB.
On 23 April 2019, an A320, registered AP-EDA and operating PA613 from Sharjah to Peshawar suffered a runway excursion on landing. The aircraft stopped beyond the end of the runway, but still on paved surface. No injuries were reported.^[23]

Partnerships

In November 2017 Airblue extended its partnership with PepsiCo.^[24] Airblue had a contractual partnership with the Ukrainian Windrose Airlines for a three-year wet-lease of some Windrose aircraft. These aircraft carried the Windrose livery with Windrose crew and a mixture of Windrose and Airblue cabin crew. This wet-lease expired in 2016.