Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali announced they are planning to add up to 80 aircraft to their current fleet of 20 planes.  Ali said they will also add two new hubs in the Middle East.  He said the number of business travelers using Air Arabia will likely double in the next 12 months.

Ali said they expect to have 100 planes operating in the region in the next five years.  He said they are currently investigating five locations for future hubs and “We will probably end up with two of the five.”  Ali said that the downturn in the economy works to their advantage because customers are increasingly looking for less expensive alternatives to more expensive legacy airlines.  “As the economic conditions get tougher more people downgrade.”