AIR Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier, has announced a net profit of Dh103 million for the first three months of this year, an increase of 32 per cent compared to Dh78 million during the same period of 2008. The carrier posted a turnover of Dh463 million in the first quarter of 2009, up 21 per cent compared to Dh383 million during the corresponding period of last year. The results demonstrate the strength of its business model despite the extremely challenging global economic conditions.
Air Arabia served a total of 951,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 26 per cent compared to 757,000 passengers during the same period in 2008. Average passenger seat load factor – or passengers carried as a proportion of all available seats – stood at 81 per cent for the first quarter of this year.
“Globally, the aviation industry faced extraordinarily difficult market conditions in the first three months of this year, primarily due to the worldwide financial crisis and its direct impact on the travel habits of both business and leisure passengers,” said Adel Ali, board member and group chief executive officer of Air Arabia.
“While Air Arabia is not insulated from the fallout of the global financial crisis, we are extremely pleased to have been able to continue our own positive momentum in the first quarter of 2009, as today’s announcement demonstrates.”
“Air Arabia’s appeal to customer’s remains based on a simple promise of value-for-money services, a broad and growing range of destinations, and the very highest levels of passenger comfort and reliability,” he said. “The attractiveness of that proposition remains greater than ever, as travellers everywhere increasingly see the appeal of low cost services in general and those of Air Arabia in particular.”
Air Arabia achieved a record annual profit of Dh510 million in 2008 and distributed a 10 per cent cash dividend to the company’s shareholders.