Air Arabia celebrates eighth anniversary of first flight

Eight years after the very first Air Arabia flight took off from Sharjah International Airport, the region’s low-cost pioneer is now widely seen as one of the Middle East’s true corporate success stories, the carrier’s Group Chief Executive Officer Adel Ali, highlighted today.

Air Arabia has experienced massive, sustained growth since October 2003, when it introduced a new way of taking flight to the Arab world. From the earliest days of serving five regional destinations with just two aircraft, the region’s leading low-cost carrier today serves 69 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, operating from hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt.

“Eight years ago, we couldn’t have anticipated how rapidly Air Arabia would grow, or how dramatically our pioneering low-cost model would change how, when and at what price people would travel here in the Middle East,” Adel Ali said.

“Consider that, today, more than 100 Air Arabia flights now take off every day, including over 50 per day from our primary hub in Sharjah. Just as important, we now employ some 1,500 Air Arabia staff, who are dedicated to providing our customers with the very highest level of service.”

“The past eight years have been a remarkable journey for all of us at Air Arabia – including our employees and, of course, our loyal passengers” Ali continued “From our earliest days, with just a handful of passengers, we have now served millions and millions of individuals – connecting them with friends and families, helping them carry out their studies and succeed in their businesses. To put that in context, today, we process more than 4,000 passenger bookings on our website every day.”

“For the past eight years, we have remained focused on upholding that simple promise – by growing our destination network and fleet, by introducing innovative solutions at the lowest possible cost, and by ensuring that the Air Arabia brand remains close to our passengers’ hearts.”

As it enters its ninth year of operations, Air Arabia continues to add to its impressive list of industry plaudits, including recently winning the top award for “Innovation in Operations - Low-Cost Carrier Airline” at the Express TravelWorld Awards 2010-2011 held in New Delhi, India.