Air Arabia welcomes the first A321neo LR to its fleet!

Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier received its first Airbus A321neo Long Range on Monday, April 15th.  The aircraft flew nonstop from Airbus’s facility in Hamburg to Sharjah International Airport.

Air Arabia is the first Middle Eastern airline to operate the A321neo LR and this delivery is the first of six aircraft that will join Air Arabia’s fleet that comprises of 53 A320 Family aircraft serving more than 155 routes across the globe from four hubs in the UAE, (Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah), Morocco and Egypt. The addition of the A321neo LR will enable Air Arabia to expand to new medium-haul markets in addition to strengthening the existing routes with increased seat capacity.

A Soaring Display of Unity: UAE carriers join hands to celebrate the legacy of Sheikh Zayed

Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia and Al Fursan took to the skies in unison today to celebrate the UAE’s 47th National Day, as well as commemorate the legacy and values of HH Sheikh Zayed. The late founding father of the UAE dedicated his life and leadership to unify and shape a better collective future for the nation, and today’s formation flight is a soaring display of unity as all four carriers showcase the UAE’s aviation success story to the nation and world.

Epic world-first flying formation with four types of commercial aircraft from Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia and flydubai,

and seven Al Fursan jets

The spectacular flypast - a world-first and a UAE civil aviation milestone - involved over 11 aircraft: a flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 (Zayed 1), an Air Arabia Airbus A320 (Zayed 2), an Etihad Airways Airbus A380 (Zayed 3) and an Emirates Airline Airbus A380 (Zayed 4), as well as seven Al Fursan aerobatic display jets from the UAE Air Force. All of the commercial aircraft within the formation were emblazoned with ‘Year of Zayed’ decals. This is also the first time this unique combination of aircraft types fly in formation.

The aircraft were proudly commanded by Captain Adrian Smith from flydubai, Captain Nadhem Al Hamad from Air Arabia, Captain Richard Dyson from Etihad Airways and Captain Abbas Shaban from Emirates Airline. The Al Fursan team was led by Lieutenant Colonel Nasser Al Obaidli.