Air Arabia has launched a Ramadan promotional campaign offering customers savings of up to 40 per cent on selected routes across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa, as the airline looks to stimulate advance bookings ahead of the peak Eid and early summer travel period.

The Sharjah-based low-cost carrier said the offer is available for bookings made via its website and mobile app using the promo code RAMADAN. Tickets must be booked by February 25, 2026, for travel between March 25 and June 15, 2026.

The campaign covers a broad network spanning key regional markets including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, alongside European destinations such as Greece, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany.

The promotion also extends to leisure and emerging tourism markets including Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Türkiye, Kenya, Thailand (Krabi) and the Maldives, as well as South Asian and African routes including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Ethiopia.

Tiered discount structure

The airline has structured the offer around its fare families, with capped discounts applied per passenger, per flight direction.

For European, CIS and select African and Asian destinations, the maximum discount is set at:

• Dhs80 for Basic fares

• Dhs100 for Value fares

• Dhs150 for Ultimate fares

For GCC, Middle East and selected South Asian routes, the maximum discount is:

• Dhs50 for Basic fares

• Dhs70 for Value fares

• Dhs100 for Ultimate fares

A maximum discount limit applies per route and is automatically applied during the booking process once the promo code is entered.

Driving early Ramadan and Eid demand

The sale aligns with a traditionally high-demand travel window driven by Ramadan and Eid-related VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic, as well as short-haul leisure travel across the GCC and broader region. By incentivising early bookings through a time-bound campaign and digital-only access, Air Arabia is reinforcing its direct distribution strategy while optimising load factors across its network.

The airline noted that promotional fares are subject to limited seat allocation and may sell out before the campaign ends. Blackout dates and peak travel restrictions may apply, and the promotion cannot be combined with other offers unless otherwise stated. All fares remain subject to the airline’s standard fare rules and conditions of carriage.

The move comes amid continued pricing competition among regional low-cost carriers as they balance capacity growth with yield management in the run-up to the summer 2026 travel season.

Read: Air Arabia soars with Dhs656m Q3 profit, 16% jump from last year

Ramadan continues to reshape consumer behaviour across the GCC, combining cultural generosity with heightened spending, loyalty participation and digital engagement. For brands, the holy month has evolved beyond a seasonal sales spike into a strategic window to deepen customer relationships and drive measurable performance across retail, travel and financial services.

Across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, mobile commerce typically peaks during Ramadan evenings, particularly as families prepare for iftar and suhoor. Search interest for “offers” and “discounts” also rises sharply toward the end of the month. In response, loyalty programmes are intensifying their focus on personalised rewards, digital incentives and coalition partnerships to capture demand and strengthen retention.

“Ramadan isn’t a one-month campaign; it’s a strategic moment to reaffirm value with your most engaged customers,” says Gabi Kool, CEO of Loylogic. “Loyalty performs best when integrated into a holistic incentive approach that respects cultural sentiment and rewards customer commitment with relevance and respect.”

A fast-growing loyalty market

The regional loyalty market is expanding rapidly. It is projected to grow 16.3 per cent in 2025, reaching approximately $3.27bn, up from $2.81bn in 2024. In the UAE alone, loyalty programmes are expected to rise 16.1 per cent to around $490.8m in 2025, with continued double-digit growth forecast through 2028.

Across the GCC, the market is expected to sustain a compound annual growth rate of roughly 13.8 per cent through 2029, driven by digital adoption, coalition ecosystems and increasingly personalised engagement models. Younger consumers, particularly Gen Z, are showing stronger preference for experiential rewards over purely transactional perks, prompting brands to rethink traditional points-based strategies.

To resonate during Ramadan, brands are increasingly embedding loyalty within a wider incentive strategy. This includes:

• Experience-led engagement, such as exclusive iftar events and culturally aligned partnerships

• Data-driven personalisation using real-time behavioural insights

• Tiered rewards and tailored perks across the customer journey

• Digitally integrated reward ecosystems combining travel, premium merchandise and digital gift cards

“Today’s most effective loyalty strategies are built around meaningful engagement, not single reward categories,” continues Kool. “When brands design incentive ecosystems that combine experiential value, aspirational rewards, and seamless digital delivery, they create emotional connection driving both immediate engagement and sustained lifetime loyalty.”

Sector dynamics during Ramadan

Retail remains the largest contributor to loyalty activity during Ramadan, with heightened engagement across groceries, gifting and fashion. App-based programmes and mobile wallet integrations enable real-time rewards, while multi-brand coalitions allow seamless redemption across online and offline channels.

In travel and hospitality, domestic and regional movement supports increased activity across airline and hotel loyalty schemes. Tiered rewards, exclusive iftar experiences and cross-industry partnerships are driving redemption. The Middle East travel loyalty segment alone is estimated at approximately $1.14bn in 2025, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, banks and fintech platforms are embedding rewards directly into everyday spending. Credit card incentives, buy-now-pay-later programmes and digital wallet integrations are encouraging higher transaction frequency during the month.

Industry analysts note that coalition loyalty models, AI-driven personalisation, fintech integration and experience-led rewards are becoming structural features of the regional market rather than temporary campaign tactics.

GCC banks could unlock up to $100bn in additional value by adopting agentic AI to manage credit risk and SME lending, according to Raj Abrol, CEO of Galytix.

Speaking at the Middle East Banking AI & Analytics Summit in Dubai, Abrol said small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) corporate lending is poised for significant growth over the next decade, creating a substantial revenue opportunity for banks that modernise their risk infrastructure.

He argued that artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation and into a phase where demonstrable return on investment is becoming measurable. Rather than deploying generic tools, Abrol urged financial institutions to implement risk domain-specialised AI systems trained specifically on credit risk knowledge and adaptable to each bank’s internal policies and processes.

Raj Abrol, CEO of global firm Galytix said: “The banking industry needs to wake up to the fact that generic LLMs are simply not fit for purpose in the high stakes credit risk marketplace. A lack of access to accurate data means that gaping opportunities offered by emerging market investments are missed, leaving credit chains fragmented. Risk domain specialised AI can embed credit policy, financial data and regulatory logic to unlock a lucrative, multi-billion-dollar market,” he added.

Industry analyst Patrick Sullivan, CEO of Parliament Street think tank, reinforced the message, calling for a more decisive shift in strategy.

“The banking industry cannot continue tinkering with AI, it needs to embrace expertly designed systems that can address real world problems. Risk assessment is an obvious use-case for the technology, but the financial services industry needs to wake up and recognise this fact,” he said.

Founded in 2015, Galytix works with major global financial institutions and was recently appointed to a supplier consortium with PwC supporting the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs) Consortium in a multi-million-pound deal. The company has expanded its international footprint in recent years, including a growing presence across the GCC.

Its flagship product, CreditX, is an AI-powered agent designed to automate key credit processes such as data ingestion, financial analysis, memo generation and peer comparison, aligned with bank-specific credit policies and templates. According to the company, the platform can complete up to 30 hours of manual credit analysis work in under 30 minutes.

Renault will buy out truckmaker Volvo’s and shipping group CMA CGM’s stakes in their new generation electric vans joint venture Flexis, the French carmaker said on Monday.

The agreement will become effective by the end of the first half of 2026, as Renault CEO François Provost, who took over last year, accelerates his efforts to streamline the group’s operations.

The automaker was already planning to fold its Ampere electric-vehicle unit back into the group, two sources told Reuters in January, and has shut down its car-sharing services as part of restructuring its Mobilize division focused on new transport solutions.

Read more-Aston Martin to sell F1 branding rights as it warns of bigger loss

Flexis was created in 2024 by former Renault CEO Luca de Meo in partnership with Sweden’s Volvo, with CMA CGM joining later as a minority shareholder. Renault and Volvo each hold 45 per cent, with CMA CGM owning 10 per cent.

Production of the Renault Trafic Van E-Tech electric, the first model of the range, will begin as planned at Renault’s Sandouville plant in France by the end of 2026, the company said.

It added that Volvo will also market the vehicle from 2027 onwards through Renault Trucks, part of the Volvo Group, as part of a long-term partnership for light commercial vehicles.

The UAE Cybersecurity Council has confirmed that the country’s national cyber system has successfully thwarted a series of organised cyber attacks described as terrorist in nature, targeting critical digital infrastructure and vital sectors.

According to the Council, the attacks were aimed at destabilising the country and disrupting essential services. Authorities said the national cybersecurity and cyber defence framework responded swiftly to contain the threats and prevent operational impact, WAM reported.

The Council emphasised that the safety of individuals, protection of personal data and continuity of critical services remain top priorities. It noted that the national cyber defence system operates around the clock in coordination with service providers, national and international entities, and specialised organisations. Strategic partnerships and advanced technical capabilities were leveraged to strengthen protection measures, accelerate recovery processes and reinforce national digital resilience.

The attacks reportedly included attempts to infiltrate networks, deploy ransomware and conduct systematic phishing campaigns targeting national platforms. Officials also revealed that artificial intelligence technologies were used to develop more sophisticated offensive tools, signalling an evolution in the tactics employed by hostile actors.

The Council reiterated its commitment to safeguarding the UAE’s digital ecosystem and maintaining stability, stressing that any attempts to target critical infrastructure or civil services will be met with decisive countermeasures.

Members of the public were urged to report suspicious cyber activity through officially approved channels to help ensure the continued security of the country’s digital environment and institutions.