Low-cost carrier (LCC) Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s newly confirmed national airline, has confirmed plans for its inaugural flights days after fellow LCC Wizz Air landed in the UAE capital.

The former is being launched as a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-headquartered Etihad Airways and Sharjah-based Air Arabia.

On 14 July, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi’s first scheduled flight will take off from the UAE capital and land at Alexandria.

Flights have been confirmed from Abu Dhabi to Sohag for 15 July.

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, the UAE's fifth airline and Abu Dhabi's first LCC, will begin operations with two Airbus A320 aircraft, using Abu Dhabi International airport as its base.

Abu Dhabi’s plans also include the launch of another LCC, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, backed by Hungarian LCC Wizz Air and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company.

Wizz Air’s first scheduled flight for Abu Dhabi International airport landed on 1 July.

The inaugural route from Bucharest will be followed in September by flights from Sofia, Katowice and Cluj-Napoca. 

All Wizz Air flights are operated on Airbus A320, A321 and A321neo aircraft.

Wizz Air plans to connect its European destinations with Abu Dhabi by offering ultra-low cost services.

This April, founder and CEO of Wizz Air, József Váradi, said Wizz Air Abu Dhabi was likely to be launched at a bigger scale than originally planned.

“We are bringing a niche that does not really exist at this point in time,” he added. 

“We’ll be stimulating the marketplace and that feeds into the strategic objectives of Abu Dhabi.”