Training Completed by Air Arabia as Airline is Now Certified to Train In-House

Sharjah, UAE, 6 December 2004 - As part of their continuous expansion, Arabia LLC - one of the UAE's national airlines and the first low-cost airline of its kind in the Middle East & North Africa region - recently completed the training of its fifth group of cabin crew. The group of 15 were also the first to be trained in-house as Air Arabia recently received its certification to conduct their own training for aircraft familiarisation, first aid, general procedures, in-flight emergencies and service techniques.

Captain Mohamed Ahmed, Air Arabia's Director of Operations remarked, "This is a huge development for Air Arabia as we can now conduct all training sessions in-house and apply first hand knowledge of the airline and its values from day one. We are amazed at the number of applications we receive every week for Air Arabia cabin crew and are now able to process everything from the actual recruitment to the final training ourselves."

Air Arabia's fifth group of cabin crew is a testament to the international environment of the company; the group of 15 consists of 12 different nationalities with 11 different spoken languages between them. Whether a passenger is from the Middle East, France, India, Iran, the Philippines, Russia or South Africa, Air Arabia has a crew member that can speak their native language, while the diversity of the crew's background will benefit the Air Arabia passenger by providing excellent service garnered in different industry backgrounds and customer service environments.

"As the number of our destinations continues to increase as well as our fleet of aircraft, this ability to train our cabin crew in-house becomes more and more important," said Adel Ali, Air Arabia's CEO. He added: "Not only do we ensure that cabin crew undergo intensive training in all safety aspects, but with the training by Air Arabia staff it gives meaning to hands-on experience - cabin crew get a real taste of the ultimate Air Arabia experience."

Air Arabia has flown over half a million passengers throughout the region and neighbouring countries to date. The next six months will see Air Arabia offering increased destinations as it continues with plans to fly to India, Jordan and Pakistan. In the early part of 2005, its fleet will grow to five Airbus A320 aircraft allowing the airline increased frequency on existing routes and continuing to offer passengers the largest seat pitch in the regional market - that of 34 inches in comparison to 29 and at most 31 on most regional airlines. 

Air Arabia is a Sharjah government owned airline currently flying from Sharjah daily to Alexandria, Bahrain, Beirut, Colombo, Doha and Muscat; five days a week to Damascus and Kuwait; four days a week to Dammam; three days a week to Khartoum; and two days a week to Aleppo, Assiut, Jeddah, Riyadh and Sana'a.

Committed to enabling customers who have not been able to afford air travel in the past to start travelling throughout the region and those who do travel to travel more frequently, Air Arabia offers tremendous opportunities to travellers who are looking for competitive fares. It aims to make air travel more convenient and frequent, while providing the lowest fares in the market without sacrificing the standards of safety, quality or service offered. Bookings can be made through Air Arabia's call centre in Sharjah on (+971 6) 558 0000, Air Arabia Travel Shops, the website www.airarabia.com, appointed travel agents and Emirates Post.

-Ends-

Note to Editors
About Air Arabia LLC:
Air Arabia LLC was established as a fully fledged commercial airline of the United Arab Emirates on 3rd February 2003 by an Ameeri decree issued by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohamed Al Qassimi, the Ruler of Sharjah and Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE. The Air Arabia fleet consists of four modern A320 aircraft, with a fifth expected in the first quarter of 2005, flying directly to destinations in: Bahrain, Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. 

Air Arabia Contact:                                                               Press Contact:
Jyotsna Habibullah                                                                Kelly Home / Rabie Al Faqih
Marketing Manager                                                               Gambate! Communications
Tel:  (+971 6) 508 8888 / 508 8853                                        Tel:  (+971 4) 391 6424
Email: jhabibullah@airarabia.com                                             Email: kelly@gambate.biz,
Website: www.airarabia.com                                                  rabie@gambate.biz

© Press Release 2004