Gandhara Airways

Gandhara Airways
الخطوط الجوية الغانذاري
Al-Khuṭūṭ al-Jawwiyyah al-Gāndhāri

IATA ICAO Callsign G1 GAA GANDHARA
Founded	31 January 1936 (1936-01-31)
Hubs	Rhea International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Ocean Club
Subsidiaries	Air Nura Safar Aviation Services
Fleet size	216
Destinations	165
Company slogan	Take Gandhara with you
Parent company	Transoceanic Aviation Group
Headquarters	Rhea, Gandhara
Key people	Leila Hayek (Chairwoman & CEO)
Revenue	GAD 12.42 billion (2016)
Operating income	GAD 875.7 million (2016)
Employees	33,346 (2016–17)

Gandhara Airways (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية الغانذاري, Al-Khuṭūṭ al-Jawwiyyah al-Gāndhāri), legally Gandhara Airways S.A.M., is the flag carrier airline of Gandhara, headquartered in Rhea. It operates domestic and international passenger and cargo services, mainly from its hub at Rhea International Airport.

Gandhara Airways is a subsidiary of the Transoceanic Aviation Group, a holding company that also includes Freehan Airways and Lost Islands Airways.

History

Early years

On 31 January 1936, the company Airwork opened a new airline in Gandhara, named Gandhara Airwork. The ownership was split between the Gandhari Monetary Agency (52%), Airwork (40%), and private Gandhari investors (8%). Exclusivity of air transport operations was granted to the new company by the government, and the airline commenced operations in June 1936 with daily flights between Rhea and Port Eden, using de Havilland D.H.86 aircraft. A division of Gandhara Airwork, named Gandhara Airlines, was established in 1937.

In 1951, Gandhara Airwork was acquired by the Gandhari government. When the state of Gandhara became the sole shareholder, Gandhara Airwork and Gandhara Airlines were merged to form a new company named Gandhara Airways. The airline became a subsidiairy of the state-owned holding company Gandhara Aviation Group in 1978, when the Gandhari government decided to bring all aviation services under one umbrella. As Gandhara Airways, the company grew and became one of the largest airlines of Outernatia.

1990s

Despite being a state-owned company, the airline was self-financing without any financial backing by the Gandhari government. During the 1990s, the demand for privatisation grew both within the company and across the Gandhari aviation industry. The demand from Gandhara Airways was based on the philosophy of minimum governance and the belief that privatisation would have a positive effect on operational efficiency, making the airline more competitive. Privatision of Gandhara Airways could also increase competition in the aviation market, which in turn would improve the quality of services and lower the ticket prices.

The privatisation process of Gandhara Airways began in 1998, when the Gandhara Aviation Group sold 20% of the shares with plans to reduce its stake in the airline further to 36% in the future. New legislation was approved by the Parliament of Gandhara to ensure that the airline continues to be majority-owned by Gandhari shareholders. The new law gave the airline the right to buy back shares, if foreign ownership would rise above 40%. From 45%, the airline was given the right to issue new shares without offering existing shareholders first refusal. If foreign ownership exceeds 50%, the law allows the company to force shareholders to sell shares at their original purchase price, or to declare the shares void.

Recent developments

Gandhara Airways assumed complete ownership of the low-cost airline Air Nura in 2004.

On 27 February 2018, Gandhara merged with Freehan Airways and Lost Islands Airways into the Transoceanic Aviation Group, resulting in the largest airline group of Outernatia. The Transoceanic Aviation Group acquired 59.96% of the shares in Gandhara Airways (180,000,000 of the 300,219,278 issued shares).

Destinations

As of April 2019, Gandhara Airways serves 165 destinations: 27 domestic destinations (plus 4 destinations in Asabiya and 3 in Diyafa), and 131 international destinations across Aurora, Internatia, and Outernatia.

Codeshare agreements

Gandhara Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• A+ Airlines
• Air Nura
• Freehan Airways
• Kimmy Airlines
• Lettucian Airlines
• Lost Islands Airways
• Rainfall Airways

Fleet

As of April 2019, the Gandhara Airways fleet (excluding its subsidiary Air Nura) consists of the following aircraft:

Gandhara Airways fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers					Notes
			F	C	Y+	Y	Total
Airbus A320-200	30	—	—	12	—	138	150	Older aircraft to be replaced by Airbus A320neo and Irkut MC-21-300.
Airbus A320neo	1	14	—	12	—	138	150	Deliveries until 2021.
Airbus A321-200	24	—	—	16	—	169	185
Airbus A321neo	4	8	—	16	—	169	185	Deliveries until 2020.
Airbus A330-200	15	—	12	42	—	183	237	One aircraft in TAG livery.
			—	27	—	251	278
Airbus A350-1000	6	34	—	46	32	256	334	Deliveries until 2023. Outernatian launch customer.
Boeing 737-700	18	—	—	8	—	120	128	To be phased out by 2022. To be replaced by Airbus A320neo and Irkut MC-21-300.
Boeing 737-800	25	—	—	8	—	156	164
Boeing 747-8I	20	—	6	48	—	314	368	Largest Boeing 747-8I operator.
Boeing 777-200ER	17	—	12	42	—	236	290
Boeing 777-300ER	19	—	8	42	—	310	360
Irkut MC-21-300	—	32	—	16	—	147	163	Deliveries most likely to begin in 2021.
Sukhoi Superjet 100-95	28	—	—	12	—	75	87	Outernatian launch customer.
Gandhara Airways Cargo fleet
Airbus A330-200F	6	—	Cargo
Boeing 747-400ERF	3	—	Cargo
Total	216	88

File:Gandhara Airways Airbus A350-1000 (EP-ANA).png

Gandhara Airways Airbus A350-1000

Gandhara Airways Boeing 747-8I

Loyalty program

Gandhara Airways adopted Ocean Club as its frequent-flyer program. Miles are awarded based on the distance travelled, ticket fare, and class of service. Membership into the program is free. There are two types of miles: Award Miles and Level Miles. Award Miles can be exchanged for rewards and expire after 20 months without flying. Level Miles are used to determine membership level and remain valid until 31 December of each year.

See also

• List of flag-carrying airlines