Air Arabia looking to purchase additional narrow-body aircraft

The company is looking at the Airbus A320neo, the Boeing Co. (BA) 737 Max as well as Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B)’s C-Series.

Chief executive officer Adel Abdullah Ali said: A decision on a purchase is unlikely to come before next year, and the Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based airline has no plans for an announcement in time for the Dubai Air Show in November.

He added: “Each has a unique selling proposition. It’s still early stages, there’s a lot of work to be done. It will eventually bounce to commercial decisions, which one is financially better for us.”

Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: “Unless there is financial incentive that sways them, it seems more probable than not that Air Arabia will stick to its winning recipe of the A320 family and select the A320neo as its future narrowbody purchase. That's not to say that the Boeing 737MAX family is completely off the table.

“On the contrary - Airbus has done exceptionally well in sales terms with the A320neo - so much so that deliveries for new customers are now well past 2020, a time frame that Air Arabia would be loathed to wait for - in contrast, the 737MAX, while entering service slightly later than the A320neo, does have better availability so it will be a tough selection process, whichever airplane wins.”

He concluded: “Having said that, the different models employed by Air Arabia and its close rival flydubai adds to the competitive edge between the two airlines - and for the very same reason, it is likely that flydubai will stick to a 737MAX order at the upcoming Dubai Air Show in November."