Air Arabia flies into Europe

The flight was piloted by Captain Martha Pabon, Air Arabia's first woman pilot to salute the achievements of Sabiha Gökçen, the lady combat pilot from Turkey after whom the Istanbul airport is named.

Air Arabia's new flight into Turkey caters to the growing demand of both leisure and business travellers, with flights operating twice a week from 28th May, 2006; every Thursday and Sunday departing Sharjah at 22:15 to arrive in Istanbul at 01:40 and then depart Istanbul every Friday and Monday at 02:20 to arrive in Sharjah at 07:30.

Air Arabia's Chairman, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, said:

"The 1st Air Arabia flight into Europe is a proud occasion for our young airline. We have always strived to deliver value to our customers by ensuring that our network has broad coverage at the lowest possible fares, and our first flight into Europe is yet another example of this."

He added: "It opens the doors for endless possibilities for the traveller by reaching out to the vast cultural and financial opportunities of Istanbul and Turkey. To have the flight piloted by Captain Martha Pabon our first lady pilot is a special feeling and a great sense of achievement for the organisation."

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city that was recently chosen as one of three European capitals of culture, is considered a gateway between Europe and the East. The European side of the city is the historical peninsula, also known as the "Golden Horn" because of the colour of the water at sunset. The large natural port has seen much use since Byzantine and Ottoman times and is still a busy, popular port today. From here ferries depart to the Asian side of Istanbul, and Ukraine, Izmir, and Italy amongst others.

On the Asian side of the city in the Üsküdar district some of the oldest history of Istanbul can be experienced. This area has always been very prosperous as a result of the various industries that have flourished here and the presence of armies of the empire. Today this culturally rich area gives a wonderful view on the history of the city and country. The new schedule offers travellers an ideal opporutunity for short weekend breaks in Turkey from the UAE.

Fly Air Arabia to experience the best in regional air travel from quick and easy online booking to brand new Airbus A320 aircrafts. Air Arabia offers tremendous opportunities to travellers who are looking for competitive fares, making air travel more convenient and frequent, while providing the lowest fares in the market with a strong focus on quality and service. On board, Air Arabia offers a varied and affordable selection of food and drinks, in-flight entertainment as well as duty free sales with service from our hospitable and friendly in-flight crew.

Current Air Arabia destinations include Aleppo and Damascus (Syria); Alexandria, Assiut, Luxor and Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt); Amman (Jordan); Astana and Almaty (Kazakhstan); Bahrain; Beirut (Lebanon); Colombo (Sri Lanka); Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh (KSA), Doha (Qatar); Khartoum (Sudan); Kuwait; Mumbai and Nagpur (India); Muscat (Oman); Sana'a (Yemen); Sharjah (UAE) and Tehran (Iran). In May we have also started flights to Kabul (Afghanistan), as well as Jaipur and Kochi (India).