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The Air Arabia journey takes 7h 50m in a narrow-bodied jet with no inflight entertainment nor alcohol
Simon CalderTravel Correspondent Monday 24 November 2025 16:25 GMTComments
open image in galleryEastbound: Air Arabia will connect its home in Sharjah with Gatwick (Air Arabia)
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On 6 May 2026 you could fly on Emirates from London Gatwick to Dubai, returning a week later, for £552. The fare includes meals, drinks, state-of-the-art inflight entertainment and a checked baggage allowance of 30kg aboard an Airbus A380 “SuperJumbo”.
Or you could choose Air Arabia from Gatwick to Sharjah airport, just 11 miles away, for only £417. In return for reducing the fare by a quarter, though, you have no complementary catering nor checked baggage allowance. Food and soft drinks are available for purchase, but not alcohol. And travellers will be confined within an Airbus A321 – an aircraft more normally used for three-hour hops to the Mediterranean.
Air Arabia has announced its first UK route to and from its base in Sharjah. The group chief executive of Air Arabia, Adel Al Ali, said: “This expansion reflects our continued commitment to connecting our key markets with greater reach and convenience while delivering the value-driven travel experience Air Arabia is known for.
open image in galleryThe Air Arabia flight connects Gatwick with Dubai (Getty Images / iStockPhoto)“The introduction of London Gatwick not only enhances connectivity from our Sharjah hub but reflects our commitment to offering customers, whether travelling for business or leisure, a greater choice of affordable and reliable air travel options. We look forward to welcoming travellers onboard and providing them with direct access between the UAE and the United Kingdom.”
At 3,408 miles, it will be much longer than any existing budget airline route from the UK. The outbound flight is scheduled for 7 hours 15 minutes, with the inbound 35 minutes slower due to the effects of the jet stream.
The Independent has asked the three biggest European budget airlines – Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air – for their longest routes.
These are the 10 longest budget airline routes from Europe
- London Gatwick-Jeddah: 2,930 miles (Wizz Air)
- London Gatwick-Medina: 2,794 miles (Wizz Air)
- Belfast International-Hurghada: 2,762 miles (easyJet)
- Manchester-Sal (Cape Verde): 2,761 miles (easyJet)
- Glasgow-Hurghada: 2,740 miles (easyJet)
- Katowice-Abu Dhabi: 2,711 miles (Wizz Air)
- Warsaw Modlin-Tenerife South: 2,542 miles (Ryanair)
- Krakow-Tenerife South: 2,437 miles (Ryanair)
- Budapest-Tenerife South: 2,343 miles (Ryanair)
- Amman-Madrid: 2,274 miles (Ryanair)
The question is: how far would you travel on a budget airline?
Read more: How do Britain’s rail fares compare with train ticket prices in Europe?
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