Private company

RAK Airways

Logo: Rak Airways, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Airline based in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

RAK Airways (Arabic: طيران رأس الخيمة) was an airline based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It was established in 2006 but briefly suspended operations in 2009 and relaunched in 2010 with a new livery and under new management. On 1 January 2014, the airline ceased operations.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2007Founded1
B757 von RAK Airways
Photo: PlaneSpotter94, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

RAK Airways (Arabic: طيران رأس الخيمة) was an airline based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It was established in 2006 but briefly suspended operations in 2009 and relaunched in 2010 with a new livery and under new management. On 1 January 2014, the airline ceased operations.2

The story

First news about a new airline based in Ras Al Khaimah emerged in 2005 and it was initially called Al Hamra Airlines. UAE Cabinet has later issued its official approval for setting up the RAK Airways as a national carrier in its decision No. 328/4 for 2005. The new airways launched operations in early 2007. The carrier was affected by the 2008 financial crisis and ceased operations in 2009.

In 2010 the airline announced that it would be resuming operations with a New "value-for-money" business model, aiming to position itself between full-service and low-cost carriers.

In February 2011, it was revealed that RAK Airways was planning on launching flights to between five and nine new destinations. Though it acknowledged the difficulty of securing slots at several of the destinations due to rival carriers in the UAE, it announced that it was finalizing a codeshare agreement with an Asian carrier and that it would also be increasing the size of its fleet.

In 2013, RAK Airways launched flights to Islamabad, Pakistan; and Amman, Jordan.

RAK Airways announced the immediate suspension of all operations on 1 January 2014, citing economic considerations.

From Wikipedia’s article on RAK Airways, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Destinations

In December 2013, RAK Airways served the following destinations:

Bus operations

RAK Airways also operated bus services from Ras Al Khaimah to other UAE destinations like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, and Khor Fakkan.

Fleet

As of August 2013, the RAK Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft and had pending orders for Boeing 737 Next Generation:

From Wikipedia’s article on RAK Airways, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 2013Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 2007Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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