Fly Jinnah Airline Policies, License and Fleet

Fly Jinnah is a Pakistani low-cost carrier airline with headquarters in Karachi which started its operations at the end of 2022. It is a joint venture business between Air Arabia Group and the Lakson Group. Based in Pakistan, Fly Jinnah has adopted a low-cost business model that offers passengers comfort, reliability, and value for money. The entrance of Fly Jinnah into the Pakistan air transport market has increased the competition in the industry. It started its flight operations at around 14,000 RPK, putting pressure on the other air service providers to lower their fares too.

Fly Jinnah License

According to NAP-2109 the Tourism Promotion & Regional Integration (TPRI) License is issued to the Fly Jinnah airline. That means they can use aircraft to carriage passengers, cargo, or mail to and from Socio-Economic routes. Where else, they are not allowed to conduct their flight operations on Primary/Trunk routes of Pakistan. However, a flight may take off or terminate from/to any Trunk/Primary airport that is announced as a hub in their schedule which is already submitted.

One big advantage of holding the TPRI license to Fly Jinnah is that they are free from landing, housing, and air navigation charges at both ends of the Socio-Economic Routes/destinations. This means, that Fly Jinnah is allowed to make an operation without paying any fee for landing or navigation charges at the airport.

Socio-Economic Routes of Pakistan

Category-A

Gwadar, Gilgit, Mohenjo-Daro, Muzaffarabad, Zhob, Skardu, Chitral, Saidu Sharif, Mirpur Khasand Bannu

Category-B

Jiwani , Khuzdar, Dalbandin, Talhar , Parachinar, Turbat, Ormara, Sibi, Pasni, Jacobabad, Mangla, Sehwan Sharif, Kohat, Bhagtanwala, Panjgur, Mianwali and Rawalakot

The fleet of Fly Jinnah

The fleet of 3 Airbus A322-200 with an average age of 3.8 years is operating flight services of Fly Jinnah. As per the license category TPRI/Charter operations, the airline shall require a minimum of two (02) airworthy aircraft of similar capacity.

REG	Aircraft Type	Age
AP-BOO	Airbus A320-200	3.6 years
AP-BOP	Airbus A320-200	3.9 years
AP-BOQ	Airbus A320-200	3.8 years

Aircraft Age required for TPRI license

A320-200 is world advanced, single-aisle popular aircraft with a seating capacity of 174 passengers. The TPRI holding aircraft seating capacity shall be limited to the aircraft, which is decided by the authority. Moreover, the aircraft has a very comfortable economy cabin, having proper leg space between seats.

SkyTime and SkyCafe

The passenger can use the SkyTime streaming service during the flight for in-flight entertainment. SkyTime lets the passenger watch a huge selection of different categories of entertainment directly on their devices. Not only has the SkyTime the onboard SkyCafe menu offered a variety of cheap snacks, hot meals, sandwiches, and refreshments for passengers to choose from.

Policy Guidelines for International Operations

The Fly Jinnah, headquartered in Karachi, initially focuses on the domestic market and then eventually flies overseas with the Middle East and the GCC due to large air travel demand. To achieve qualification for international flights, they need to maintain the punctuality and regularity index. According to NAP-2019, Pakistani shall be eligible for the international flight after completing one year of domestic flights. A fleet of 5 airworthy aircraft on purchase/dry lease would be essential for pursuing international flight operations. The following performance parameters should be check before qualifying any airline.

1. Flight Punctuality above 80%.
2. Flight Regularity above 90%
3. No dues of PCAA are outstanding.
4. Operations must be satisfactory on Primary & Socio-Economic Routes as given in policy
5. No outstanding Air passenger complaints of more than 30 days be there as specified by PCAA/Government.

Ticket, Fees, and Charges

The ticket offered by Fly Jinnah is nonrefundable, and if you miss the flight, you have lost that ticket. You can’t use that ticket anymore, and you have to buy a new one for the next flight. Commonly Fly Jinnah offers 3 different fares services.

1. Basic: where only a seat and 10kg hand carry are included.
2. Value: where you can pick a seat from row 8 onward, +10kg hand carry, +23kg Baggage, +Sandwich and water, +Modification and Cancellation up to 6 hours are included in it.
3. Extra: where you pick any seat, any meal, 46 kg baggage + 10kg hand carry, +modification and Cancellation up to 6 hours.

Modification of Reservation

The fly Jinnah offers their passenger to modify the day of travel or even the destination of a trip online by contacting the customer call center or visiting sales offices and partner travel agents. Of course, they will charge some of the modification if you have purchased a Basic offer. Also, passengers having Basic Pack are allowed to modify 24h before the scheduled departure time. In contrast, those with Flexi Pack will get the privilege of not paying any amount for their modification. They can also modify up to 6h before the scheduled departure time.

Cancellation of Reservation

The cancellation procedure is the same as the modification; you can cancel your reservation online by contacting the customer call center or visiting sales offices and partner travel agents. Passengers with a basic fare pack can cancel the reservation 24h before the scheduled departure time. In contrast, those with Flexi Fare Pack can cancel the reservation before 6h from the scheduled departure time without any cancellation charges. Tickets like Promotional Tickets, Free Tickets, and reservations are not allow for Cancellation.

The refund policy of Fly Jinnah

Fly Jinnah does not have a refund policy, instead, they have Fly Jinnah Credit. The Credit retains all the amount you paid after deducting cancellation charges or other applied charges. The passenger can use the amount in the credit on future flights, valid for the next year from the payment date.

Conclusion

One of the objectives of the ICAO air transport policy and regulation program is to create competitive business opportunities in the marketplace. By doing this, the service provider will compete with each other to earn more profit, ultimately benefiting the passenger. The introduction of Fly Jinnah in the air transport of Pakistan has also created competition amount air service providers (PIA, Airblue, SialAir, and SereneAir, etc). As we have seen, other airlines have revised their fares after Fly Jinnah successfully operates its flight operation on low fares.