Routes World 2024 Day 2: Air Arabia CEO Keynote

BAHRAIN — The day started with Air Arabia (G9) CEO Adel Abdullah Ali giving a keynote interview. Before joining the Emirati low-cost airline, the CEO held positions at Gulf Air (GF) and Qatar Airways (QR). Similarly to Oman Air (WY) and GF, the airline is targeting a return to profitability in the next few years.

The airline’s fleet includes around 85 aircraft, 120 more aircraft on the way, and six hubs between Egypt, Morocco, and UAE. “When the airline started, the demand was not as high as now, and not necessarily all the service was available. The low-cost business model was not available in the region, and the public perception of LCC was viewed as a bad thing.”

Mr. Abdullah Ali detailed his experience with legacy carriers. “Back in the day, people travelled far less regularly than today. We saw airlines charging massive prices for short flights. We thought it was a no brainer to start our operations in the region.”

“Customers got much more clever, while the airlines got much more scared. Legacy carriers can no longer afford the economy class offering for the price the customers are willing to pay. In my opinion, it is feasible for legacy carriers to split their service with a part of the aircraft sold as low cost”

Regarding its fleet and network, he added: “The business started with flights within a four-hour envelope. With the Airbus A321XLR, we will be able to fly up to eight and a half hours. We will probably expand from Morocco to the Middle East and Russia, but we have no plan to fly across the Atlantic. From the Middle East, the XLR will enable us to fly up to South Africa.”

“As airports started to open up, we stimulated the demand in regions like India and Saudi Arabia. Today we fly to 16 airports in Saudi Arabia, which was considered impossible by many when we started our operations”

The keynote interview concluded with three messages addressing airlines, airports, and countries:

“To the airlines, we always say they complicate it too much. We are a transportation business, we move people from point to point. For the airports, for me these are bus stops, there is not point making it too difficult. Why spending so much money and then deciding which airlines can come which not. In Europe, more and more airport give you the service you want, for an adeuqate price. In the Arabic world, some airports are still overcharging low cost carriers.”

Finally, regarding flying in different countries, he added: “The world has gone to open skies, and wherever that happened, the countries have grown and thrived. Why refusing people who are willing to come to your country and giving you money? If you want to protect your national carriers, take the money from low cost carriers, and give it to the legacy carriers”

The CEO confirmed that the XLR is expected in 2027, and the airline is taking its time to carefully plan the type's usage. He added that the aircraft would allow Air Arabia to fly across the Atlantic; however, the option is not on the table just yet.