The agreement will more than treble Air Arabia’s fleet, and underlines its stated ambition to increase its total operating fleet to over 50 aircraft by 2015 and become a world-leading airline.

Air Arabia already operates 11 leased A320s, and serves a network of more than 37 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia. Launched in 2003 and based in Sharjah, Air Arabia has served more than 5 million passengers over the past four years.