UPDATE 1-Air Arabia sees India traffic up 20 pct in 2008

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NEW DELHI, March 31 (Reuters) - Air Arabia AIRA.DU, the Middle East's largest budget airline, expects at least 20 percent rise in passenger traffic out of India in 2008, a senior official said on Monday.

"(It) depends on how many routes we get approval for, but it would be at least 20 percent," A.K.Nizar, head of commercial department, told reporters at a news conference to announce the launch of services between New Delhi and Sharjah.

He said Air Arabia carried 2.7 million passengers in 2007 of which 20 percent came out of India.

About 35 million people live in the Gulf, of which about a quarter are foreigners, with many unskilled workers from South and East Asia.

The Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based firm has said it plans to add between four and five destinations this year in India and the Middle East.

"India was always a major part of the (low-cost) business plan," Nizar said. "We can see growth in passenger traffic between (the) Gulf and India and especially Delhi."

New Delhi was the 11th destination in India for Air Arabia, which flies to 39 cities in the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and North Africa, using leased Airbus A320 aircraft.

Last week the firm said it had bought two new Airbus A320 aircraft for an undisclosed sum, in addition to an order for 49 A320 planes made in November.

Nizar said Air Arabia had placed firm orders for 35 planes with Airbus and had option for 14 more. "We haven't yet converted any of the options to firm order," he said. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)