AIR ARABIA commenced yesterday daily flights on the Sharjah-Mumbai sector, challenging the monopoly of Indian national carriers.
The airline, which made its inaugural flight from Sharjah to Mubai, is poised to give tough competition to other airlines operating to the Indian city as it offers the lowest fares starting from Dh249 one way, excluding taxes.
A large number of Indians living in the UAE who complained that their national carriers were charging inflated fares now have an opportunity to fly at affordable rates.
The immediate impact of Air Arabia's operation to India was that some airlines said they would slash their fares to stay in competition.
Commenting on the situation Adel Ali, CEO of Air Arabia, told Gulf News: "We are happy that other players in the market are influenced by us so soon. We have proved that our policy to start low-cost air services to provide affordable fares is viable. We have no fears because the UAE market is big enough to comfortably accommodate us."