Air Arabia posts Q1 profit of Dh103 million

More than 2.1 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between January and March 2017.

Air Arabia on Sunday reported a net profit of Dh103 million for the three months ending March 31, 2017, 10 per cent less than the corresponding 2016 figure of Dh114 million.

The airline posted a turnover of Dh810 million, 14 per cent less than the corresponding first quarter of last year.

The financial results were recorded amid a continuous drop in yield margins and were backed by strong passenger demand as well as cost control measures.

More than 2.1 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between January and March 2017. The airline's average seat load factor during the first three months of 2017 stood at 81 per cent.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia, said: "We are glad to see Air Arabia recording strong first quarter financial results despite the impact of lower yield margins that the industry continued to witness in the first quarter of this year. The strong measures that we took in driving cost margins lower while optimising revenue opportunities have proven once again the resilient and dynamic business model that we operate."

He added: "We continue to witness strong passenger demand for Air Arabia's services and we remain confident of the growth prospects of the low-cost travel segment in the region. We believe the market's economic and trading conditions are on an improving trajectory. We are optimistic that this will reflect positively on the industry's performance for the rest of the year."

Air Arabia added a new route from Sharjah in the first three months of 2017, with flights commencing to Baku in Azerbaijan. This was followed by the announcement of new seasonal flights from Sharjah to Trabzon, Turkey, starting June 2017.

In addition, Air Arabia added one new route in the first quarter of this year from its operating hub in Morocco between Casablanca and Catania in Italy. The carrier took delivery of one new aircraft in Q1 and currently operates a fleet of 47 Airbus A320 aircraft to 126 routes across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.

- business@khaleejtimes.com