Air Arabia Heads to Sudan for Joint Venture

DALLAS - Air Arabia (G9) has announced plans for a joint venture with Sudan's largest and most diversified conglomerate, DAL. The aim of the joint venture is to create a Khartoum International Airport (KRT)-based low-cost carrier called 'Air Arabia Sudan'.

The airline will operate a fleet of new Airbus A320 jets making their low-cost business model approach more apparent. According to G9, the necessary licenses and approvals needed to commence operations will be conducted "shortly" with more information regarding fleet size, scheduled services, and network scope.

DAL's Group's Chairman, Osama Daoud Abdellatif, stated that the group was "excited to launch Air Arabia Sudan in partnership with Air Arabia Group. Our decision to partner with a leading pioneer of low-cost air travel is driven by our core commitment to perpetually contribute towards realizing Sudan’s long-term human and economic growth and development potential."

Abdellatif added, "Given Sudan’s rich national cultures, rarely publicized yet fascinating ancient history, and breathtaking topography, our nation enjoys a unique untapped potential, and we are therefore steadfastly committed to developing the diverse aspects of Sudan’s tourism, travel, cargo transport, and aviation infrastructure sectors”.

Commercial Air Travel Market in Sudan

Data retrieved from Cirium Schedules revealed that currently, Badr Airlines (J4), in terms of capacity, is the largest operator in Sudan—Tarco Air (3T) follows in second.

Other low-cost Saudi carriers such as airlines such as Flydeal (F3) and Flynas (XY) have a significant presence in the Sudanese market. Emirates (EK), Qatar Airways (QR), and FlyDubai (FZ) also take a proportion of the market.

Chairman of Air Arabia, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani, commented, “We are delighted at Air Arabia Group to partner with DAL Group on this joint venture to launch Sudan’s new low-cost carrier. We are confident that Air Arabia Sudan will add significant value to the air transport sector of Sudan and directly contribute to the growth of the local economy and the development of the travel and tourism sector."

Featured image: Air Arabia CN-NMG Airbus A320-214. Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways