Air Arabia net profit hits Dh160m
Air Arabia, the first low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, reported on Sunday that its net profit soared by 39 per cent to Dh160 million in the first six months of the year from Dh115 million during the same period last year.
The company's second quarter net profit stood at Dh82 million, a 14 per cent increase from the Dh71.7 million earned during the same period in 2007.
Its turnover also ballooned from Dh513 million in the first half of 2007 to Dh871 million in the first half of 2008, registering a 70 per cent jump.
Likewise, its second quarter turnover went up by 79 per cent, from Dh272 million last year to Dh487 million this year.
The Sharjah-based carrier served more than 1.6 million passengers during the first six months of the year, a 33 per cent increase from last year's 1.2 million passengers.
For the second quarter, Air Arabia served 866,272 passengers this year, up 34 per cent from the 646,000 passengers recorded in the second quarter of 2007.
Air Arabia's average seat load factor—or the number of passengers carried as a percentage of available seats—climbed to 86 per cent during the first six months of 2008 from only 3.6 per cent last year.
“During a period of unprecedented challenges for the global aviation industry as a result of the continuously soaring oil price, we are extremely proud of these results,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia.
Air Arabia recently announced that it has carried more than 10 million passengers since its launch in October 2003.
