The budget carrier Air Arabia is considering growing its Egyptian and Moroccan hubs as its business in the two countries continues to improve.
“This year Egypt made a good profit for us,” said Adel Ali, the chief executive of Air Arabia. “We are very optimistic about it, and equally on Morocco.”
He said he did not foresee any problems to its operations in Morocco from the financial turmoil in Europe.
Last summer, Air Arabia added an additional aircraft to its Morocco hub, as demand for Europe increased during the summer. Currently, the airline operates two aircraft from its Alexandria hub in Egypt and four planes from its Casablanca hub in Morocco.
The carrier’s primary operations are from Sharjah and it has recently taken Ras Al Khaimah as a fourth hub.
Air Arabia became the national carrier of the Northern Emirates after RAK Airways ceased operations this year. However, Air Arabia is still not allowed to fly to India from Ras Al Khaimah because the Indian authorities are delaying the approval process.
“For India, we are still waiting to get the approval,” said Mr Ali.
“I know there is a high-level exchange of correspondence between the countries, because it is a legitimate right of the UAE. We failed to understand why the Indian authorities are blocking it. They are discussing it and hopefully they will agree to it,” he said.
Mr Ali said that the delay from the Indian authorities was affecting Indians who live in Ras Al Khaimah and wanted to go home.
“There’s absolutely no reason legally or commercially not to allow the route. We haven’t been given a reason not to fly,” he said.
Air Arabia’s second quarter net profit surged 128 per cent amid cost-cutting and increased passenger numbers.
The airline’s net income increased to Dh173 million in the three months ending June 30, compared with Dh76m in the same period the previous year.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Brief scores:
Arsenal 4
Xhaka 25', Lacazette 55', Ramsey 79', Aubameyang 83'
Fulham 1
Kamara 69'
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
