Air Arabia Jordan, a unit of the budget carrier Air Arabia, will start flights from its latest hub in Amman next month, the airline said yesterday.
Air Arabia took a 49 per cent stake in Petra Airlines in January and rebranded it as Air Arabia Jordan, the country's first low-cost carrier.
The airline will start flying from Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport in May, with its first flight to Kuwait City on May 18. Air Arabia will also fly to Erbil in Iraq, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.
Its base will provide direct services to “destinations across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa”, Air Arabia said.
Adel Ali, Air Arabia’s chief executive, said that Jordan’s tourism market and stable economy will offer an “opportunity to serve both inbound and outbound passenger demand”.
“We are confident of the business growth prospects in the kingdom [of Jordan] and the wider region as well as the increasing demand for affordable air travel.”
Queen Alia airport will become Air Arabia's fifth global hub – adding to its Sharjah, Casablanca, Alexandria and Ras Al Khaimah operations. Air Arabia started flying from Sharjah in October 2003. Today, the carrier serves 100 destinations.
The airline, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, reported a 28 per cent drop in fourth quarter net profit to Dh68 million because of fuel hedging costs.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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