Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, announced today its financial results for the three months ending September 30, 2010, demonstrating sustainable profitability during the third quarter of this year.
Air Arabia's net profit for the three months ending September 30, 2010 was in line with last year's performance and stood at AED 136 million, a 5.6 per cent decline compared to AED 144 million in the corresponding period in 2009. In the third quarter of this year, Air Arabia posted a turnover of AED 568 million, an increase of 4 per cent compared to AED 548 million in the same period of 2009.
The airline served 1,147,066 passengers in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 14 per cent compared to 1,007,680 passengers in the same period last year. In the three months ending September 30, 2010, Air Arabia's average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – stood at an impressive 84 per cent, an increase of 8.5 per cent compared to same period of 2009.
"Air Arabia is pleased to announce such positive financial performance despite continued challenging market conditions," said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia. "Air Arabia continues to post sustained quarterly profits with a high seat load factor and rising passenger traffic, demonstrating the strength of Air Arabia's business model and long-term expansion strategy."
"The delivery of the first of our 44 aircraft is a milestone in the history of the region's largest low-cost carrier, allowing us to further strengthen our operations," Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani continued. "As we mark our seventh anniversary, we will continue to provide value-for-money offerings and innovative products that have benefitted over 15 million passengers that we have served."
In the third quarter of 2010, Air Arabia took delivery of the first of 44 A320 aircraft ordered in 2007 and 2008 (34 placed in 2007 and 10 placed in 2008), also marking the airline's seventh anniversary.
Operations of Air Arabia (Egypt) and Air Arabia (Maroc) have also grown with introducing new destinations and increasing frequencies to existing ones. Air Arabia also expanded service to the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, from the carrier's primary hub in Sharjah, UAE, offering twice-daily flights to the Himalayan city.
As further testimony to its successful business model, Air Arabia has been recognised as the "Best Managed Company in the Middle East – Airlines and Aviation," by participants of Euromoney's annual survey.
