Air Arabia To Begin Services To China

UAE-based low cost carrier Air Arabia has announced that it will begin services to Urumqi in Western China, becoming the first low cost airline to fly to the country.

The budget carrier will fly to Urumqi thrice a week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays from February 1 this year, it said.

Located in the Xinjiang district of China, Urumqi is an industrial city with a population of 3.3 million people. The region is also well known for a number of tourist friendly spots and is home to large natural gas reserves.

“The Chinese aviation sector has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years and we are delighted to be the first low-cost carrier from the MENA region to play an important role in this incredible story,” said Adel Ali, group CEO, Air Arabia.

“We have had our eye on the Chinese market for some time and are now ready to begin regular services to one of the world’s great economies.”

Ali added that the airline is looking to add more routes to China in future.

“This is a major move for Air Arabia and an important step in strengthening connectivity between the rapidly growing economies of the Middle East and Asia,” said Ali.

Air Arabia, which flies around 100 routes, has been in expansion mode, recently launching services to Cairo in Egypt and Antalya in Turkey.

The Dubai-listed airline currently operates from five international hubs including the UAE (Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah), Morocco and Egypt.

Air Arabia is also slated to begin operations from Jordan, following the purchase of a 49 per cent stake in Petra Airlines, which will be rebranded as Air Arabia Jordan.

The new deal will allow the carrier to access more locations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.