Al Maha Airways Explained

Airline:Al Maha Airways
Arabic: المها
Fleet Size:4
Destinations:11 (planned)
Iata:QR
Icao:QTR
Callsign:QATARI
Founded:2014
Ceased:2017
Headquarters:Doha, Qatar
Parent:Qatar Airways

Al Maha Airways was a planned subsidiary airline of Qatar Airways to serve the Saudi Arabian travel market. It was based initially at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, and then at Hamad International Airport in Doha. The beginning of operations was postponed several times following its initial announcement in 2014, and then cancelled entirely by February 2017 following issues obtaining its operational license and the Qatar diplomatic crisis.

History

Al Maha Airways was founded as a Saudi Arabian subsidiary of Qatar Airways in 2014, but never began operations. Al Maha, which means "oryx" in Arabic, was to sport the Qatar Airways logo but would be green instead of the Qatar Airways signature burgundy colour, to match Saudi Arabia's national colors. On 29 April 2015, Al Maha Airways took delivery of four Airbus A320-200 aircraft.[1]

The airline was set to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2014,[2] but then the starting date was postponed to summer 2016.[3] In February 2017, Qatar Airways announced that the Al Maha Airways project was cancelled and the airline would not begin operations, due to ongoing issues gaining its operational license and the Qatar diplomatic crisis.[4]

Destinations

The initial destinations were planned to be Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Madina, Abha, Al Qassim, Doha, Dubai (Al Maktoum) and Muscat.

CountryCityAirportNotes
Saudi ArabiaAbhaAbha International Airport
Al QassimPrince Naif bin Abdulaziz International Airport
DammamKing Fahd International Airport
JeddahKing Fahd International Airport
MadinaPrince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport
RiyadhKing Khalid International Airport
QatarDohaHamad International Airport
UAEDubaiAl Maktoum International Airport
OmanMuscatMuscat International Airport

Fleet

As of November 2016 the Al Maha Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[5]

External links

List of airlines of Qatar

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Arabian Aerospace – Al Maha Airways receives its first four A320s. 28 March 2016.
  2. Web site: Official: Qatar's Al Maha Airways to launch in Saudi by year-end – Doha News. Doha News. 28 March 2016.
  3. Web site: بيروقراطية التراخيص تؤخر انطلاق طيران المها إلى صيف 2016. Al-MADINA.COM صحيفة المدينة. 28 March 2016.
  4. http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/53161-al-baker-confirms-al-maha-airways-project-abandoned ch-aviation.com - Al Baker confirms Al Maha Airways project abandoned
  5. Web site: Al Maha Airways Fleet Details and History.