Air Arabia’s Chief Executive Officer said his company plans to invest up to $3.6 billion in 44 new aircraft over the next 3 years.
"We bought a total of 44 planes and expect to receive them in the coming 3 years. This will expand our fleet to total 70 aircraft," Adil Ali, Air Arabia's CEO said.
"Total investment in those planes is $3.6 billion. We're working very closely with the European credit agencies for the financing of the planes," he explained.
He added that Air Arabia already received one of the planes, with another one to be delivered before the end of the year. An additional 6 aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2011.
"We secured $160 million finance for the first 4 planes from Bank of Japan. We're working very closely with the ECA and have absolutely no problem with financing."
The carrier is also set to open its 4th hub in Jordan next year, Ali said. "We expect to launch our Jordan hub sometime in 2011. $50 million were invested in this hub. This comes after Sharjah, Egypt and Morocco," he said.