Air Arabia as received its first Airbus A321LR. The example, registered A6-ATA (c/n 8714), made its first flight on April 2, and has since been flown non-stop from the manufacturer’s Hamburg Finkenwerder plant to the airline’s Sharjah base.
The carrier is the first in the Middle Eastern to operate the type, with a further five examples due to follow in the coming months. Air Arabia currently serves more than 155 routes from hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt using a fleet of 53 A320 family aircraft.
The new jet is configured with 215 seats and has been financed through an arrangement with Air Lease Corporation.
Adel Al Ali, group chief executive officer of Air Arabia, said: “The addition of this new aircraft allows us to expand our service to farther and newer destinations while remaining loyal to our low-cost business model.”