Etihad, Air Arabia launch new low-cost airline in UAE

Agencies
October 18, 2019

Sharjah, Oct 18: A new UAE budget carrier has been launched by Sharjah's Air Arabia and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Aviation Group, further increasing the competition in the aviation sector as well as giving UAE residents an additional economical option to choose from.

The new carrier - called Air Arabia Abu Dhabi - is the fifth airline to operate from the UAE after Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia, serving 9.5 million residents. Based out of Abu Dhabi International Airport, the new carrier will target the low-cost travel market segment in the Middle East region and complement Etihad Airways, said a Press statement released on Wednesday.

Etihad and Air Arabia currently operate a combined fleet of 162 aircraft, including 109 by the former and 53 by the latter. Air Arabia flies to 170 destinations across 50 countries through its Sharjah, Morocco and Egypt hubs while Etihad flies to 80 destinations.

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi has been launched against the backdrop of a tough aviation environment as 17 airlines have gone bust so far this year globally, including Jet Airways, Thomas Cook, Aigle Zur and XL Airways, Germania, Flybmi and Adria of Slovenia. But industry executives believe that the sector will pick up as global trade war eases ahead of elections in the US.

Tony Douglas, group CEO of Etihad Aviation Group, said the carrier will offer passengers a new option for low-cost travel to and from Abu Dhabi. "We look forward to the launch of the new airline in due course".

Adel Al Ali, group CEO of Air Arabia, said the UAE has developed over the years to become a leading travel and tourism hub and this partnership will further serve the growing low-cost travel segment locally and regionally.

However, the two UAE airlines didn't share the launch date as well as the destinations for the new carrier.

Abu Dhabi Airports said the new LCC will cater to the growing low-cost travel market through its hub in Abu Dhabi International Airport, strengthening the city's air connectivity and accessibility.

"It is anticipated that the airline will greatly increase the number of destinations served from Abu Dhabi International Airport, offering new choices to passengers to travel directly to previously unserved destinations," it said.

Aviation analysts say that the new carrier will first target Middle East and Asian markets which are underserved right now.

Mark D Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Consulting, said that the Air Arabia-Etihad model will cater to markets such as Pakistan, India, North Africa, Russia and the CIS and East Europe regions that have immense potential yet are under served.

Martin noted that Etihad's long-term strategy has always been with inorganic growth where it chose to expand by means of a merger or acquisition but this marks the first time where Etihad has chosen to co-venture with a successful partner and its proven model.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research in London, said as Etihad is in the midst of financial restructuring and unable to launch its own low-cost carrier, the move to work with Air Arabia will help it to tap into a market that they do not have a presence.

"If anything, there's a big risk that Air Arabia will cannibalise some traffic that would otherwise travel to its hub in Sharjah," he said, adding that Etihad may want to push some services regionally to places like Saudi Arabia or re-enter Iran too.

For the new carrier, Ahmad believes, the fleet will likely come from Air Arabia's existing inventory to ensure that operations can commence quickly. "It will also ensure that costs stay capped and that both airlines can pool resources rather than having to wait for new airplanes."

Air Arabia is expected to announce order for 100-plus aircraft by January 2020, its group CEO Adel Ali said earlier this week.

Saj Ahmad noted that passengers will gain from using Etihad's big footprint at Abu Dhabi International and save them having to travel out to Sharjah just to get cheap flights.

"For the here and now, it's a better move for Etihad than it is for Air Arabia - but passengers will reap rewards regardless. As the partnership expands, the potential for connectivity growth and new markets will ensure that the partnership mirrors that of Emirates and flydubai," he added.

The carrier's board of directors will be nominated jointly by Etihad and Air Arabia to steer the company's independent strategy and business mandate.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon has warned that the “picture of life in Lebanon remains grim,” highlighting an "alarming" level of human suffering and significant humanitarian consequences due to the ongoing Israeli carnage.

Imran Riza, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), provided a stark overview of the Arab country's dire circumstances in a statement released on Monday.

“The current picture of life in Lebanon remains grim. Yesterday, airstrikes reportedly killed 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Aalmat in Mount Lebanon,” Riza said on X.

An airstrike in the city of Tyre on the same day resulted in the tragic deaths of five siblings from a single family, all of whom had special needs, according to his statement.

He added that in the last week, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 241 individuals and left 642 others injured in Lebanon, as reported by the Ministry of Health.

“In the past month, more than 185,000 people have fled their homes in their search for safety within the country, bringing the total to over 870,000 people internally displaced,” Riza said

The UN official highlighted that numerous individuals, including the elderly and those with health issues, are staying behind while witnessing the ruins of their ancestral homes.

He urged for the swift safeguarding of civilian people and infrastructure, emphasizing the necessity to uphold international humanitarian law and end the ongoing violence.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces bombed a house in the town of Maydoun in Bekaa on Monday night, killing three people and destroying the house.

Earlier, Israel bombed the northern town of Ain Yaaqoub, killing at least 14 people.

The killings came as Israeli military continued to pound Lebanon, bombing shops selling electrical appliances in the southern city of Tyre and carrying out air raids on the towns of Shamshtar in eastern Baalbek and Roumine in southern Nabatieh.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks killed at least 54 people across the country on Monday.

Israel’s merciless attacks continue despite calls from the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and directives from the International Court of Justice urging measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, at least 3,243 people have been killed and 14,134 others wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.

The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah opened a support front for Palestinians in Gaza only a day after the Israeli regime unleashed its genocidal war on the besieged territory.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 13,2024

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Beirut: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings.

However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.

The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers.

The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.

The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”

About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded.

For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people.

The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.”

The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.”

The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath.

Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family.

Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.

A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries.

The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.

During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.

The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy.

It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited.

In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”

The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”

On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings.

The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”

Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”

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