Air Arabia acquires 49% of Jordanian aviation company

The UAE company Air Arabia said it has completed the acquisition of 49 per cent of the shares of the Jordanian company Petra Aviation.

Air Arabia, which is listed on the Dubai Financial Market, added in a press statement released yesterday that the Rum Group, the main contributor to Petra, will retain the rest of the shares. The company will now be called Air Arabia Jordan.

The company did not publish the value of the deal.

The company is due to start operating in the first quarter of 2015, according to the press statement. It will be the fifth hub for the group in the world.

Air Arabia noted that it plans to open a major hub at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan.

Air Arabia’s chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al-Thani said in the statement: “The establishment of a new hub in Jordan extends Air Arabia’s operational footprint into the heart of the Levant and brings us a step closer to achieving our stated goal of connecting the entire Arab world.”