Air Arabia eyes up expansion of its Egyptian and Moroccan hubs

The Giza Pyramids, near Cairo, Egypt. The country has made "a good profit" for Air Arabia this year. Hassan Ammar / AP Photo

The budget carrier Air Arabia is considering growing its Egyptian and Moroccan hubs as its business in the two countries continues to improve.

“This year Egypt made a good profit for us,” said Adel Ali, the chief executive of Air Arabia. “We are very optimistic about it, and equally on Morocco.”

He said he did not foresee any problems to its operations in Morocco from the financial turmoil in Europe.

Last summer, Air Arabia added an additional aircraft to its Morocco hub, as demand for Europe increased during the summer. Currently, the airline operates two aircraft from its Alexandria hub in Egypt and four planes from its Casablanca hub in Morocco.

The carrier’s primary operations are from Sharjah and it has recently taken Ras Al Khaimah as a fourth hub.

Air Arabia became the national carrier of the Northern Emirates after RAK Airways ceased operations this year. However, Air Arabia is still not allowed to fly to India from Ras Al Khaimah because the Indian authorities are delaying the approval process.

“For India, we are still waiting to get the approval,” said Mr Ali.

“I know there is a high-level exchange of correspondence between the countries, because it is a legitimate right of the UAE. We failed to understand why the Indian authorities are blocking it. They are discussing it and hopefully they will agree to it,” he said.

Mr Ali said that the delay from the Indian authorities was affecting Indians who live in Ras Al Khaimah and wanted to go home.

“There’s absolutely no reason legally or commercially not to allow the route. We haven’t been given a reason not to fly,” he said.

Air Arabia’s second quarter net profit surged 128 per cent amid cost-cutting and increased passenger numbers.

The airline’s net income increased to Dh173 million in the three months ending June 30, compared with Dh76m in the same period the previous year.

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