Dubai – Mubasher: Air Arabia is mulling over placing orders for more than 100 aircraft in the second quarter of this year, the CEO of the UAE-based airline said.

“We need to probably put in an order of up to 100 planes this year, and that should be done before sometime in the quarter two,” Adel Ali told Bloomberg TV.

To this end, the UAE’s only listed airline is in talks with Boeing and Airbus, the world’s largest planemakers, in a bid to reach the best commercial deal, he added.

On Wednesday, Air Arabia reported a net profit of AED 26 million during the fourth quarter of 2018.

“Air Arabia’s fourth quarter and full year results remain fundamentally strong. Driven by the carrier’s network expansion strategy, cost control measures and the appealing customer demand to our services,” Air Arabia’s chairman Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani commented on the previous-year performance.

By 12:26 PM UAE time, the carrier's stock dipped 7.58% to AED 0.92.