The low-cost airline Air Arabia is currently in talks with the government of the United Arab Emirates about possible state aid for the group of companies. There are two flight operations in the Emirates: Air Arabia, based in Sharjah, and the Air Arabia Abu Dhabi joint venture with Etihad Airways.

The group makes no secret of the official request, because during the virtually held Capa conference, CEO Adel Ali confirmed that a corresponding request had been sent to the government in Abu Dhabi. The government will hold a round table shortly. All airlines with headquarters in the United Arab Emirates are invited to this. Further measures and requirements are to be jointly evaluated there.

It is not yet clear whether Air Arabia or another UAE carrier will receive support from the government or the respective emirate due to the corona pandemic. In any case, this would be positively received by Air Arabia. In a stock exchange announcement, the lowcoster writes: "Any support from the government would be welcomed in view of the extreme and unprecedented challenges that COVID 19 has brought with it and which significantly restricts air traffic".

Air Arabia was founded in 2003 and has branches in Morocco, Egypt and Abu Dhabi. The subsidiary in Jordan was dissolved in 2018 because an OpenSkies agreement was concluded between the EU and Jordan. There is only a minority stake in each of the flight operations in Morocco and Egypt. The branch in Abu Dhabi is a joint venture with Etihad Airways.