Air Arabia in discussions to secure government aid

Air Arabia on Wednesday said it had requested the government for financial support to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have put a request in and if it comes, we will be very happy,” said Adel Ali, the company’s CEO during a virtual event. “It will help us to pay a sum of our outstanding quicker - If it doesn’t, I think we can survive hopefully for some time to come.” Ali said the airline was “in discussions” with the government and that they were holding regular meetings with the civil aviation authorities at the federal and local levels. Ali said about 40% of the carrier’s operations in the UAE were back after the pandemic led to a complete grounding of its fleets in March. In Egypt and Morocco – the airline’s other two hubs – Air Arabia is operating at 60% and 80%, respectively, of pre-COVID levels, the executive said. “As Europe is getting into more rock downs … that number is shrinking but interestingly, this time round, …. the airports are open and …. and people are traveling, so that’s not too bad,” he said.<br/>