Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — UAE-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia announced plans on Sunday to launch non-stop services to Abha in Saudi Arabia starting May 24. On his visit to the Kingdom, the airline's Group Chief Executive Officer Adel Ali said Sunday here that the airline is committed to using its infrastructure to improve connectivity with most major destinations in the Kingdom. In addition to Abha, Air Arabia operates non-stop flights to Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina, Dammam, Qassim, Yanbu, and Taif. He said: “Since launching operations to the Kingdom in 2004, Air Arabia has been determined to using its infrastructure to organically grow its operations into many cities across the Kingdom.” “The Kingdom has been a market focus for us, and given the vast potential that the country's aviation sector offers, we look forward to expand our operations to more airports in this vibrant market,” the airline executive added. He noted that Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, celebrates today that it has completed nine years of successful operations in the Kingdom. Air Arabia started operations to the Kingdom with regular services to Jeddah in 2004. Since then, reflecting the overall growth of the Saudi aviation sector, the airline has seen increasing demand for the appealing value of its offers. Today, the pioneer low-cost airline operates more than 88 weekly non-stop services from its three hubs – Sharjah in UAE, Casablanca in Morocco and Alexandria in Egypt — to eight destinations in Saudi Arabia. “The strengthening of our route network in Saudi Arabia testifies the significance we attach to the Kingdom, and our business strategy is to be present where our customers want us to be. That said, Air Arabia will continue to offer enormous choice for customers seeking to travel from KSA to the UAE and Egypt, and beyond.” Ali added. He told media that Air Arabia has helped in getting people closer to their relatives faster than 15 years ago. “Nowadays life is much easier than it used be; people can manage to go from city to another in just few hours,” he said. He spoke about an experience which started the original business plan for Air Arabia. He said: “An old lady turned up to me at the Air Arabia headquarters and told me she had not been able to see her grandchildren in Lebanon for 15 years — and had only 400 dirham. That's when I felt we must do more,” he says. According to Ali, in just 10 years, Air Arabia's fleet has grown to 33 aircraft. By 2016, the airline will double the size of its fleet to over 50 aircraft.
