Spicejet's RAK flights to start from end-December.

Passenger carrier SpiceJet will commence flight operations to Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE from the end of December, but its wait to establish an airline there might happen only in 2020.

"We have applied to establish an airline there [Ras Al Khaimah]. Everything depends on regulatory approvals," the airline's chairman and managing director Ajay Singh told IANS. "Flights from India to Ras Al Khaimah will commence soon. We expect the first flight to start from the end of this year. There is a huge market potential there." Flights to Ras Al Khaimah assumes significance due to the heavy labour traffic from India to the emirate and beyond.

At present, a bilateral air service agreement between Ras Al Khaimah and India,allows for four flights per week. Out of these, two are already operated by Air India Express. On the size of the new airline, Singh said that initailly SpiceJet will lease out four to five aircraft to the newly-formed passenger carrier.

The RAK-based airline plans to launch flights to Eastern Europe, other cities in the Middle East and Africa from Ras Al Khaimah...