Air Arabia

Air Arabia is a low-cost carrier based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, flying a short and medium-haul network across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Founded in 2003, it was the first low-cost airline in the Middle East and North Africa and is listed on the Dubai Financial Market. Alongside its Sharjah hub, the group operates franchise carriers Air Arabia Maroc, Air Arabia Egypt and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, extending the same point-to-point, no-frills model across several markets rather than concentrating solely on Gulf routes.

Air Arabia cut services to Kuwait, alongside fellow low-cost carrier FlyDubai, as the war disrupted Gulf air traffic after missile and drone attacks shut Kuwait International Airport. The airline cited operational reasons rather than naming the strikes directly.

The cuts came alongside disruption at Emirates, Etihad Airways and Kuwait's own flag carrier, all of which rescheduled or dropped Kuwait flights over the same period, while operations across the wider Gulf, including at Bahrain International Airport, were only recovering by the following Monday morning.

As a budget carrier with a dense short-haul Gulf network, Air Arabia's schedule is more exposed than long-haul rivals to any sustained closure of a regional hub like Kuwait's, since low-cost point-to-point routes generally carry thinner margins for rerouting than a wide-body long-haul network can absorb.