Air Arabia seals deal to launch budget carrier

posted on 10/09/2009: 21 views

Air Arabia Wednesday said it has signed a 40:60 joint venture with Egyptian travel and tour operator Travco Group to launch a low-cost airline in Egypt that will help the Sharjah-based budget carrier to compete in the European budget aviation market dominated by Ryanair and Easyjet.

Gulf News last week reported Travco was finalising the deal with a UAE-based budget airline.

This is the airline's third hub after Sharjah and Morocco, where it operates a subsidiary with a joint venture.

Air Arabia Egypt will be launched with a start-up capital of US$50 million (Dh183.5 million) and Air Arabia will deploy a fleet as soon as the company starts operating commercially, which could take a few months. The airline has 20 aircraft on the fleet with 44 on order.

"With the joint venture, Air Arabia now becomes a true Pan-Arab airline covering the entire Arab world and stretched its operations from Morocco to South Asia,” Adel Ali, Board member and chief executive of Air Arabia, said. He added that, after strengthening the Middle Eastern network, his airline will begin serving the European market in a bigger way. "I do not see Europe as a battleground. But definitely there are lots of opportunities that we want to tap,” he said. – Gulf News

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