Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, has released its financial results for the three months ending June 30, 2011, demonstrating steady growth in profit, revenue and passenger traffic.
Air Arabia’s net profit for the three months ending June 30, 2011, rose to AED 51 million, an increase of 2 per cent compared to AED 50 million in the corresponding period in 2010. This increase in profitability exceeded analyst expectations, showing the strength of the airline’s core business amidst tumultuous market conditions.
In the second quarter of this year, Air Arabia posted a turnover of AED 592 million, an increase of 22 per cent compared to AED 485 million in the same period of 2010.
The airline served 1,161,944 passengers in the second quarter of 2011, an increase of 5 per cent compared to 1,108,310 passengers in the same period last year. In the three months ending June 30, 2011, Air Arabia’s average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – maintained its impressive rate and stood at 82.5 per cent.
“Air Arabia has consistently shown its resilience to dynamic market conditions,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia. “The second quarter of this year has seen fuel price averaging to 46% increase in the market fuel bill compared to same quarter of correspondent year. The political turmoil of the region has continued with further escalation in several countries. Despite the challenging market conditions, Air Arabia has achieved steady growth and solid profits for the second quarter, thanks to our focused business model and appealing product.”
“We remain confident about the outlook of low cost travel in the region amidst market ambiguity, continuous challenging conditions and rise trend in fuel cost” Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani continued. “Air Arabia’s proven business model has well expanded into new markets and ventures, giving the airline a resilient commercial and operational strength. We are pleased with our performance in Q2 and look forward to providing best-in-class services for our customers throughout the year and beyond.”