Air Arabia Wants to Expand Operations in Bangladesh

Air Arabia, The UAE-based low-cost carrier, has been serving Bangladesh since 2007, but now wants to have more engagements with the country as one of its key routes in South Asia.

This information was shared by the CEO of the UAE-based airline, Adel Abdullah Ali, on Thursday.

During an event at a city hotel on the occasion of Air Arabia’s 20th anniversary, he told journalists, “It’s a good and growing market. We aspire to continue to grow.”

Since June 2007, The low-cost carrier has been serving Bangladesh with the first direct flight to Chattogram, followed by direct flights to Dhaka a year later.

With 57 non-stop flights each week, Air Arabia provides service to and from Chattogram and Dhaka from two airports in the United Arab Emirates: Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

The CEO said, “If you look at the last few years, your economy has grown robustly. It was a pleasure to be surprised to see what was happening. I was amazed by the beautiful airport.”

“Your economy is doing well. It means prosperity starts with the public. Thus, people will travel. The more people travel, the more flights will be brought, and the more aircraft will be included in our fleet,” he added.

So it is a win-win for everyone, especially, the public and the people who will travel, he said.

“As I said, as demand increases, we need to increase frequencies. And those frequencies work on bilateral relationships between the governments of the UAE and Bangladesh,” he said. “The current civil aviation authority in Bangladesh is extremely positive.”

“Bangladesh is one of our key routes. As we have been successful for 17 years, it has grown, which is a successful business as well,” said Adel Abdullah Ali.

Addressing the question of any plans to make Bangladesh a hub for Air Arabia, he said, “We don’t have a plan to create a hub in Bangladesh at this moment.”

The airline helps to further improve economic, commercial, and tourist links between Bangladesh and the UAE by offering the best air travel options to Bangladeshi travellers for both leisure and business purposes.

He cited the airline’s ability to lower the cost of travel for regular people as the main success in its two-decade history of success.

“That’s why Bangladeshi migrants in the Middle East can frequently fly each year,” he continued.  

He also discussed the airline’s diverse fleet. He did, however, add that they would be sticking with Airbus because the mixed fleet is far more costly.

AirArabia is the owner and operator of 73 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. It also has 120 Airbus aircraft on order, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2025.

Among the attendees of the programme Rajesh Narula, regional general manager at AirArabia, and Md Abdur Rahim, chief executive officer of MGH, the general sales agent of AirArabia in Bangladesh were also present.