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Air Arabia steers clear of heavy weather

AIR ARABIA reported a net profit of $62.62 million for the first half ending June 30, 2018. The company’s turnover for the first six months of 2018 reached $490 million, an increase of 6 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Air Arabia’s strong performance came by despite the economic pressure that airlines have witnessed in the second quarter of this year, which was driven by lower yield margins, higher fuel prices and seasonality shift in traffic that the market has experienced.

Marking strong growth in passenger demand, Air Arabia flew 4.2 million passengers during the first half of 2018 and the airline’s average seat load factor for the first six month of 2018 – passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – stood at impressive 79 per cent.

During the first half of 2018, Air Arabia received three brand new Airbus A320 airplanes bringing its fleet size to 53 aircraft. The carrier added a total of 12 new routes to its global network in the first half of this year. Air Arabia announced the introduction of its new European destination, Prague in Czech Republic, direct from Sharjah, UAE. Air Arabia’s inaugural flight to the city will commence on December 11.

 

Etihad boosts Moroccan link

ETIHAD Airways will introduce Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its scheduled services from Abu Dhabi to Rabat, capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, replacing the Airbus A330-300 currently serving the route.

Etihad Airways’ three-class version of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features 8 private First Suites, 28 Business Studios and 199 Economy Smart Seats.

To meet summer peak travel demand, Etihad Airways recently added a third weekly service to Rabat, operating every Saturday until September 29. The extra flight provides more choice to the Etihad Airways has had a codeshare partnership in place with Royal Air Maroc (RAM) since May 2007, with the Moroccan flag carrier placing its ‘AT’ code on Etihad services from Abu Dhabi to both Rabat and Casablanca.

Under the agreement, Etihad Airways places its ‘EY’ code on Royal Air Maroc’s services from Casablanca to Agadir, Marrakech and Tangier, and pending government approvals, from Casablanca to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Conakry in Guinea, and Dakar in Senegal.

 

Oman Air inks codeshare with Lufthansa

OMAN AIR’S codeshare agreement with Lufthansa will help passengers travel on Oman Air flights from Muscat International Airport and connect to Madrid, Brussels, Vienna and Prague from Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs.

The agreement offers travellers even better connectivity and an extended range of services between Muscat and Europe. Guests of both airlines will benefit from the greater convenience and the agreement is the latest step in developing closer links between Oman Air and Lufthansa, both of which share a commitment to deliver excellence in customer service.

 

Turkish profit reaches new levels

TURKISH AIRLINES total revenue increased significantly during the first half of the year approximately by 30 per cent compared to the same period of last year, reaching $6 billion. During the first half of the year, Turkish Airlines managed to increase net operating profit up from $17 million to $258 million, due to the increase in demand and unit revenues despite the increasing fuel prices.

During the first half of the year, total load factor climbed 4.3 percentage points to 80.4 per cent, recording the highest load factor in Turkish Airlines history for the first half. During the same period, increase in total number of passengers carried, capacity (available seat kilometre) and demand (revenue per kilometre) was 18 per cent, 9 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, over the same period of last year. Turkish Airlines carried more than 35 million passengers during this period. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) first five-month figures, the global aviation sector realized capacity growth of 6 per cent and demand growth of 7 per cent.

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