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Air Arabia sees 26pc drop in Q3 profit

Sharjah, November 1, 2011

Sharjah-based budget carrier Air Arabia said its third quarter net profit fell 26 per cent to Dh100 million ($27.2 million) when compared to Dh136 million in the corresponding period last year.

Announcing this on Tuesday, Air Arabia said the results for the three months ending September 30, 2011, were in line with analyst forecasts.

However, the airline carried a record 1.19 million passengers during this period, marking an increase of five per cent compared to 1.14 million passengers last year.

Air Arabia also saw its turnover jump 22 per cent to Dh691 million, compared to Dh568 million last year.

During this period, Air Arabia’s average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – stood at an impressive 81 per cent, said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia.

'Air Arabia’s sustained quarterly profits, high seat load factor and rising passenger traffic reflect the appeal of our services and demonstrates the strength of Air Arabia’s business model,' he remarked.

“The challenging markets conditions we have seen in the second quarter of this year continued in the third quarter, with a further escalation in the political turmoil in several countries and an upward trend in the average fuel bill.'

'Despite these challenging market conditions, Air Arabia’s solid profits and steady growth reflect the airline’s commercial and operational strength.'

In the third quarter, Air Arabia took delivery of two new A320 aircraft from Airbus. The latest Airbus A320 arrived on schedule from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France, marking the delivery of a total of six out of 44 A320 aircraft ordered in 2007. 

Air Arabia started operation to the Saudi city of Gassim during this period and has unveiled plans to introduce service to a series of new destinations by year end.-TradeArabia  News Service




Tags: UAE | Sharjah | Air Arabia | Passengers | budget carrier |

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