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Air Arabia in a nutshell
Air Arabia is the first and largest low-cost airline in the Arab world, serving more than 170 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe.
Although it is a low-cost airline, it also offers guaranteed connecting flights as standard.
Its main base is at Sharjah Airport ( SHJ ) in the UAE.
Air Arabia operates a standardised fleet consisting exclusively of Airbus A320 aircraft in its distinctive grey and red livery. In addition to Sharjah, on the outskirts of Dubai, it operates several subsidiaries at the following airports:
- Air Arabia Maroc (3O/MAC), with bases in Casablanca, Agadir, Fez and Tangier,
- Air Arabia Egypt (E5/RBG), based in Alexandria.
All these airlines operate under the Air Arabia umbrella and share a single website.
What is it like to fly with Air Arabia? Read about my experience on the Prague–Sharjah–Bangkok flight.
Get more tips for flying with Air Arabia
Whether you’re flying with Air Arabia for the first time or repeatedly, check out our handy tips and recommendations:
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7 comments
Tomek Skwarek
Translated from cestee.pl
I would definitely not recommend Air Arabia airline. Our experience with this company was extremely negative and left us feeling cheated.
Our flight to Bangkok was cancelled by the carrier and yet to this day we have not received a refund for our tickets. Contact with customer service is virtually impossible replies are automatic or non-existent and the matter is constantly dragged out with no concrete solution. A month ago, after several days of trying, we finally managed to get in touch with someone via the app and were promised a full refund, but we have just been refunded for the unused food and seats ordered, which is around 10% of the value of the tickets. What is particularly outrageous is that by law passengers in such a situation should receive a full refund or an alternative flight, but in our case the airline failed to meet this obligation.
Personally, I would advise against it. It is not worth it. It is a waste of nerves.
Kamila Vaculíková
Translated from cestee.cz
I would like to add a positive fresh experience with this airline. We flew with them to Sri Lanka. Yes, it's not luxury, but the ticket price is adequate. You can choose and order food in advance for a few crowns. The staff is very friendly. But what I would praise to the skies is that they took very good care of us when we were stuck in transit in Sharjah when the US started bombing Iran. They quickly arranged a hotel, got us transferred and checked us in quickly. And at the first opportunity after the airspace opened, they put us on a flight back. Many others were not so lucky. The only thing that could be improved a bit is communication. But in such a crisis situation, communication with all airlines (even the vaunted ones) was poor. We recommend Air Arabia.
pnutter
Translated from cestee.cz
Today flight from Goa airport(GOX) and all weighed both hand luggage and on connecting again.
MonikaC
Translated from cestee.cz
I've had my first flight with Air Arabia, so I have some information that might help someone (I didn't find much myself before the flight). We flew to the Maldives for about 8.000 CZK per person, so I was very worried :-) I've only travelled with reputable airlines so far, so I was curious to see how bad it would be :-) Online check-in 48 hours before is totally fine (but not necessary, you can check in at the airport), I even managed to book 5th-7th row for free every time for all directions. Tickets directly generated, but at the airport they printed again anyway. The plane was clean, the crew pleasant, definitely more legroom than Smart Wings. By splitting the flight nicely over the UAE, it was easy to get 6 hours straight (beware, they don't have wide-body planes). Hand luggage outweighed our carry-on weight on one leg at the gate. Catering on board in ample quantity and really for pennies. We also tried the hot food and it was surprisingly quite good. Cannot buy alcohol on board. Crew pleasant, on one flight someone kept ringing them and they still handled it with honour and a smile (I don't understand :-D ) Food and drink can be ordered online and in advance but they had a slight mix up so I didn't do it on the way back. The transfer was quick, you can make an hour transfer just fine, the airport is quite small and when we got off the plane they were waiting for us and chasing us to the right gate towards Malé. The airport for me is pretty awful and outdated, Dubai it is not :-)) But toilets are clean, water machines (for 1 DHR), snacks are also there (although very crowded). So in sum.....don't expect a miracle, but within reason, Asia at such prices within price vs performance, fine for me and I'll happily repeat sometime. *if you have a baggage claim, deal with the airport right away, because they won't deal with you without a report
pnutter
Translated from cestee.cz
They're having a super event today.
Sultan Mahagon bin Bordo
Translated from cestee.cz
Hi, what is your experience with the one hour layover in Sharjah? Did you make it, did you have a good time? How did the Arab low cost carrier handle it?
Aleš _2
Translated from cestee.cz
Hi, a few years ago I had 40 minutes to transfer. Strangely enough, the first flight (Colombo - Sharjah) was about 30 minutes late, so I didn't even hope I could make the flight to Prague. However, much to my surprise, the plane was waiting for us (about 10 people). But whether this is a standard situation, I have no idea.
Aleš _2
Translated from cestee.cz
And not to forget - they even managed to switch luggage during the rush, which surprised me the most :-)
Refunds for cancelled tickets with a transfer with Sharjah relatively hassle-free. The Air Arabia Prague number lady claimed that the request was accepted and the money would be received within three weeks, instead a credit was added to the airline's account three days later. Complaining on their WhatsApp chat, Ahmed promised the money within 15 working days, but the payment arrived in the account the very next day.