Air Arabia (G9, Sharjah) is expecting its first A321-200NY(XLR) in 2027 and plans to use the type to expand its reach from its bases in Morocco and the Middle East to countries like Russia and South Africa, the company’s chief executive, Adel Abdullah Ali, said during a keynote interview at the Routes World 2024 event in Bahrain.
“In Morocco, we will expect to come to the Middle East and further into Russia, and so on,” he said, as Aviation Week and Airways reported. “From here [the Middle East], it will take us much farther east, almost into South Africa and anywhere in Europe. Egypt has a lot of potential that we have not tapped yet,” he added.
Despite the possibility of flying across the Atlantic with the new planes, Air Arabia has discarded the option for now.
Air Arabia has an order for 120 aircraft signed in 2019, including twenty A321neo(XLR)s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. Airbus is set to deliver the first plane of this type to Iberia shortly. “We don't normally race to be the first people to operate an aeroplane. I’d rather have another airline try and test it, and if they work well, then we get to use them,” Ali said.
The carrier also expects to add seventy-three A320-200Ns and twenty-seven A321-200NX. Earlier this year, Abdullah Ali said the first deliveries of this order are expected to take place in the first half of 2025.
Air Arabia currently has a fleet of 47 aircraft - thirty-eight A320-200s, three A321-200s, and six A321-200NX(LR)s. Its subsidiaries have 32 additional jets - Air Arabia Abu Dhabi has ten A320-200s, Air Arabia Egypt has four A320-200s, Air Arabia Maroc has twelve A320-200s (one wet-leased from Electra Airways) and one B737-800 wet-leased from GetJet Airlines, Fly Jinnah has five A320-200s, and FlyArna currently has no active airframes.
