Air Arabia is beginning to feel the pinch of delivery delays at Airbus as the CEO confirms the usage of leased aircraft.
CEO Adel Abdullah Ali revealed this via an interview made with Gulf News.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
What Air Arabia Is Saying About Airbus Deliveries…
Air Arabia CEO Ali told the media outlet that despite these pinches in delivery delays from Airbus, growth will continue:
“We have an order book of 120 aeroplanes, and because of the supply chain (issues), it has been shifted to the second half of 2025″.
“However, to grow the business, we have leased airplanes.”
“Last year, we got about 10. This year, we are getting about 8. So, we should be just over 90 airplanes by the end of 2024, which is within our target.”
“In 2025, we will start receiving 120 orders in phases over five years”.
“The sooner these problems go away, the better.”
“We have seen progress year-on-year, and I have no reason to believe it will not go away.”
“It is just taking its course because other things are influencing the change.”
A Wider Industry Issue?
What Air Arabia is experiencing in regards to Airbus delivery delays is reflective of a wider industry issue.
Delays are taking place both at the European planemaker, but also across the pond at Boeing.
Supply chain issues are biting manufacturers significantly, which is stunting growth of the airlines.
However, the ACMI leasing business is bearing the fruits of this disruption.
GetJet Airlines is a big example of this, having posted a 400% profit increase for 2023.
Overall…
In conclusion, it remains clear that Air Arabia is adapting where they can to the delivery delays from Airbus.
With deliveries slipping into the first half of 2025, they won’t have to wait too much longer before they can take these aircraft.
With 120 aircraft on order, the airline is wanting to propel themselves further into the global market.
For now, all eyes will be on whether deliveries slip further away from 1H25.
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