Air Arabia flies 4m passengers in H1

Sharjah - The airline's turnover for the first six months of 2016 reached Dh1.84 billion

Air Arabia carried more than four million passengers in the first half of the year, and these passengers helped generate Dh1.84 billion in revenues for the budget carrier.
Air Arabia operates flights to over 120 global destinations in 33 countries from five hubs in the UAE, Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan. The Sharjah-based airline on Thursday declared a net profit of Dh245 million for the January to June period, showing an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the Dh237 million reported for the same period last year.
The airline's turnover for the first six months of 2016 reached Dh1.84 billion, compared to Dh1.75 billion in the corresponding period last year, an increase of 5.5 per cent. Air Arabia flew 4.1 million passengers during the first half of 2016 - up 14 per cent on the corresponding period last year. The airline's average seat load factor for the first six month of 2016 - passengers carried as a percentage of available seats - stood at an impressive 79 per cent.
The listed airline reported a 13.6 per cent fall in the second-quarter net profit. The carrier made a net profit of Dh126.4 million in the three months to June 30, compared with a profit of Dh146.3 million in the corresponding period of last year.
EFG Hermes and Sico Bahrain had forecast the airline would make a second-quarter profit of Dh136.6 million and Dh110.4 million respectively. The airline had already reported declining profits in three of the preceding four quarters. Its second-quarter revenue was Dh893.8 million, higher than the Dh860.2 million it posted in the same period a year earlier.
Shaikh Abdullah bin Mohamed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia, said: "Air Arabia's strong financial results are a testament to the airline's unwavering commitment to delivering on its value-added proposition for customers combined with its operational efficiency and the effectiveness of its wider growth strategy. Despite the continuous pressure on yield margins that airlines are witnessing and the challenges associated with the regional economic outlook, Air Arabia continues to deliver solid financial performance and momentum growth."
The chairman added: "We remain optimistic about the outlook of low-cost travel in the wider region as we continue to focus on further expanding our network and operational efficiency as well as leveraging on emerging travel trends by delivering even more value to our customers."
Air Arabia flew over two million passengers in the second quarter ending June 30, 2016, increased by 12 per cent compared to the same period of 2015. The airline's average seat load factor for the same period stood at a high 78 per cent.
During the first half of 2016, Air Arabia received three brand new airplanes and added new flights to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina from its main hub at Sharjah. In the same period, Air Arabia Jordan expanded its operations by launching a new route from Amman to Riyadh, while Air Arabia Maroc launched two new routes connecting Marrakech to Pau and Fez to Toulouse.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com