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Air Arabia Airbus Order might
not be Enough, Says COO

DUBAI — Low-cost carrier Air Arabia has ordered 44 Airbus aircraft over the next five years but its expansion plans mean it could need more, a senior company executive said.

The largest Arab airline by market value operates out of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, but opened a new hub in Morocco last year. It is launching a new budget carrier with an Egyptian partner and setting up a third hub in Alexandria.

“At least in the next couple of years we see our demand for airplanes outstripping the schedule,” Rohit Ramachandran, chief operating officer of Air Arabia’s Moroccan unit, told Reuters.

“We might even have to go outside. But we are in a good position right now because good aeroplanes are available cheap.”

He said Air Arabia Maroc, which flies from Casablanca to mostly European destinations, hoped to begin services to West Africa this year if regulatory hurdles are overcome.

Air Arabia has 100 per cent management control over its Moroccan arm but shares ownership with Bahrain’s Ithmar Bank and a group of Moroccan investors including Holmarcom and banker Othmane Benjelloun’s Finance.com.

Ramachandran said he planned to add two planes to the airline’s Casablanca fleet this year and, if market conditions permit, would then add three planes a year to reach 17-20 planes, rivalling the Sharjah operation in scale. “That is not counting expansion if we position planes in other cities in Morocco,” he said. “It’s a matter of time before we start doing that.”