UAE airlines are back to hiring, with Air Arabia and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi joining Emirates and Etihad Airways in wanting more personnel as more services return to the skies. For Air Arabia, the recruitments come as it prepares to launch a national airline in Armenia – Fly Arna – by late May. Not just pilots and cabin crew, the new positions being hired include those for back-office positions. Analysts said the UAE airlines are making ‘replacement hires’ to keep their organizations running smoothly and that it would take a while for new jobs to be created. “Organizations in most parts of the world lost some amount of staff and they need to hire for those positions,” said Mark Martin, CEO of Martin Consulting, an aviation industry focussed firm. Emirates and Etihad have already gone through the process in recent months, with the Dubai airline taking in pilots and cabin crew as well as support staff. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad last October went on a major cabin crew recruitment drive as it network started getting busy. Story has details.<br/>
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New Malaysian carrier, SKS Airways, took to the skies Tuesday with short-haul flights to holiday island resorts as domestic travel rebounds after months of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. SKS launched its maiden flight from the smaller Subang airport near Kuala Lumpur to Pangkor, a northern tax-free island, becoming the first carrier to fly there. It will also fly to northeastern Redang island, a popular scuba-diving haven, and southern Tioman island using 19-seater Twin Otter turboprop aircraft. There are currently no commercial flights to these islands. The launch comes even as other airlines in the country, including the region’s budget carrier AirAsia, are still struggling to ride out the effects of the pandemic. “As a new set-up, we are nimble, agile and flexible and able to tap into any opportunities that arise. We are positioning ourselves to capitalize on the current pent-up demand for domestic travel,” SKS Airways director Rohman Ahmad said at the launch. Rohman said SKS Airways isn’t a a low-cost carrier but fares will be reasonable. The carrier is owned by the SKS Group, a real estate company based in southern Johor state. The airline said its operations will initially focus on island and coastal resorts with connections to major cities within peninsular Malaysia. Rohman said SKS aims to expand regionally to Southeast Asia and southern China in the long-run. The airline will also offer cargo and charter services out of Subang airport as well as Senai airport in Johor state, he added.<br/>
There is doubt in French Polynesia that the territory can sustain several domestic airlines. New carriers are being launched to challenge the dominant position of Air Tahiti, which flies to more than 40 island destinations. Newly approved airlines Motu Link and Air Moana hope to start flying from Tahiti to the most popular destinations, mainly in the Society Islands and the Tuamotus. Both airlines want to use ATR aircraft to fly to popular destinations, such as Bora Bora, Huahine and Raiatea. However, the head of Air Tahiti Manate Vivish said that there is scarcely room for more than one airline. He said more competition will bring about more flights and lower fares but warns of significant regulatory constraints that need to be considered. Vivish says he is surprised that the government appears to be prepared to discuss dealing with new airlines to provide public service flights, given Air Tahiti signed a contract. In view of the pandemic in 2020, Air Tahiti planned to drop about half its destinations because the routes were unprofitable.<br/>