Air Arabia and Sudan's DAL Group to form new low-cost airline

CAIRO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates-listed carrier Air Arabia AIRA.DU and Sudanese conglomerate DAL Group have partnered to form a new airline based in Sudan's main Khartoum airport, they said on Thursday.

The low-cost airline would represent the first such investment by a foreign airliner in a carrier serving Sudan.

Air Arabia Sudan will follow the same model as other Air Arabia joint ventures, including ones in Morocco, Pakistan, and Egypt, the Sharjah-headquartered company said in a statement.

Work on securing the relevant approvals and licenses is scheduled to commence shortly, the statement said. The airline will operate a fleet of new Airbus A320 aircraft.

DAL Group, one of Sudan's largest companies, is active in the food and beverage, agriculture, automobile, mining, and other sectors.

Earlier this year, Chairman Osama Daoud Abdellatif told Reuters the group had entered a partnership with Abu Dhabi Ports to build a new port along Sudan's Red Sea coast.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Khalid Abdelaziz; editing by Jonathan Oatis)