Etihad Aviation Group, owner of the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa\u2019s first low-cost carrier, today announced the signing of an agreement to launch \u2018Air Arabia Abu Dhabi\u2019, the capital\u2019s first low-cost carrier.
Etihad Air Arabia will establish an independent joint venture company that will operate as a low-cost passenger airline with its hub in Abu Dhabi International Airport. The new carrier will complement Etihad Airways\u2019 services from Abu Dhabi and will cater to the growing low-cost travel market segment in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commenting on the announcement, Tony Douglas, Etihad Aviation Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “Abu Dhabi is a thriving cultural hub with a clear economic vision built on sustainability and diversification. With the emirate\u2019s diverse attractions and hospitality offerings, travel and tourism play a vital role in the economic growth of the capital and the UAE. By partnering with Air Arabia and launching Abu Dhabi\u2019s first low-cost carrier, we are serving this long-term vision”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This exciting partnership supports our transformation programme and will offer our guests a new option for low-cost travel to and from Abu Dhabi, supplementing our own services. We look forward to the launch of the new airline in due course,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adel Al Ali, Air Arabia Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “Home to the first low-cost carrier in the MENA region, the UAE has developed over the years to become a world-leading travel and tourism hub. We are thrilled to partner with Etihad to establish Air Arabia Abu Dhabi that will further serve the growing low-cost travel segment locally and regionally while capitalising on the expertise that Air Arabia and Etihad will be providing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, “This step demonstrates the strength of the UAE aviation sector and serves the vision driving its growth. We look forward to a successful partnership and the launch of the new carrier.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based in Abu Dhabi, the new company will adopt the low-cost business model. Its board of directors, consisting of members nominated by Etihad and Air Arabia, will steer the company\u2019s independent strategy and business mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UAE\u2019s travel and tourism sector contributes to over 13.3 percent of the nation\u2019s GDP and enjoys a prominent standing as a global aviation hub, thanks to the UAE\u2019s ultra-modern infrastructure, advanced services sector and high-quality air transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The MENA low-cost air travel model was first introduced in the UAE in 2003 and has been rapidly growing since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the Middle East market enjoys the third highest gains in intra-regional low-cost carrier penetration rate. Low-cost carriers accounted for 17 percent share of seat capacity to and from the Middle East in 2018, compared to only eight percent in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a joint statement, further information regarding the new joint venture will be communicated in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Etihad Aviation Group, owner of the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa\u2019s first low-cost carrier, today announced the signing of an agreement to launch \u2018Air Arabia Abu Dhabi\u2019, the capital\u2019s first low-cost carrier.Etihad Air Arabia will establish an independent joint venture company that will operate …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13042,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13009\/revisions\/13042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}