Airline Name
RAK Airways
Alternative logo (apologies for the quality):
IATA: RT / ICAO: RKM / CALLSIGN: RAKAIR
Founded in 2006 (Feb.), commenced operations in 2007, ceased operations in 2014 (Jan. 1st)
(Financial difficulties)
Country of Origin
United Arab Emirates, Middle East ()
(Decided to drop the alternate naming, as the countries were already pretty identifiable from their base name and flag as-is.)
Main Hub(s): Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (RKT)
Aircraft Types Used (from those available in WoA)
(For this airline, most types are already available in WoA.)Aircraft operated (already in-game):
Airbus A320 (-200, A320) - 3 former.
(Pictured below: A6-RKC - now known as TS-INQ)Boeing 737 (-400, -800, B734/B738) - 3 former.
(1/2 for both variants, respectively.)
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-400 A6-ESE - now known as G-CKUZ)(Pictured below: Boeing 737-800(WL) TC-AAR - later broken up, known as LZ-GNE at end of its life)
A lot of the shots I was able to find of these first few airframes appeared to be from this right POV, not sure why. Anyways, do note that the two Rak Airways 737-800s had their winglets by the time they entered service with RAK, so I think that they should exclusively be represented with them in-game.
Now, with that note aside, moving on:Boeing 757 (-200, B752) - 3 former.
(Pictured below: A6-RKA - now known as N818NH, stored)However, this was not the only livery their 757s wore - the other 2 757s were leased out, with one of them, G-LSAK, being the most notable - the aircraft was leased from Jet2, and on more than one occasion, sported some hybrid liveries, such as these next few examples:
(Pictured below: G-LSAK - later broken up)(Pictured below: Ditto, in alternative red scheme livery)
Just for a reference, here’s what the small decals at the front fuselage read:
(Pictured below: Ditto, with a closer look at front fuselage)However, that’s not to say the third and final 757, N741PA, wasn’t notable - it also had a hybrid livery, shown here:
(Pictured below: N741PA - now known as N985FD)Now this hybrid livery seemed to have involved an airline known as Primaris Airlines, a now defunct charter airline.
Before we continue though, just a quick sidenote, do keep in mind that both A6-RKA and N741PA above never had winglets installed during their time with the airline. The only 757 to fly with RAK that had winglets installed was G-LSAK.
Anyways, next up:Embraer ERJ-190 (-190LR, E190) - 1 former.
(Pictured below: ER-ECB - stored)This appears to be a hybrid livery too, specifically in the colors of Air Moldova, whom RKM leased this aircraft from for a few months.
Now, that should be it for the aircraft in-game. As for what isn’t:Aircraft operated (not in-game):
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (1F, L101F) - 1 former.
(Pictured below: S2-AET - later broken up)This final entry also appears to be a hybrid livery involving three operators: RAK, Zoom Airways (who leased this aircraft to RAK), and Thai Sky Airlines, which is where the color scheme comes from. I’m unsure of who had that tail logo, though, and it appears to not be Thai Sky… oh well.
(As a sidenote there were aircraft like the A319 and 747-200 listed under their list of aircraft operated, but I found no media of them with RAK’s colors, so I didn’t include them)
Why should this airline be added?
I’d say this airline should be added because it’s a pretty unique airline, best shown through its notable amount of diversity in its aircraft types and liveries, especially for an airline of its size. Aircraft like the 757s are quite a rare sight to see around the Middle East, and its selection of hybrid liveries would make for quite unique events across Europe and Asia. Of course, the other aircraft only add to this airline’s selection - the narrowbodies like the E190 and B734 in specific would be nice to see at airports such as MCT and CNN.
In general, I believe it’d be a relatively small yet notable addition - one that definitely adds some more variety to the region, and one that only further emphasizes WoA’s acknowledgement and respect towards long-defunct airlines, such as this very one.SOURCES:
RAK Airways’ Planespotters.net Page
RAK Airways’ Wikipedia Page