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Air Arabia (AIRARABI:DFM), the largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced record AED 173 million (US$ 47m) net profit for the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 128 percent on last year’s second quarter net profit of AED 76 million (US$21m). Air Arabia’s second quarter turnover reached AED 915 million (US$ 249m), an increase of 15 per cent compared to AED 797 million (US$ 217m) in the same period of 2013.
The 2014 second quarter financial results represent an all-time high for Air Arabia and the airline attributes innovative business practices, its dynamic fuel management policy and focus on cost management as key factors driving performance. The Sharjah-headquartered airline served over 1.6 million passengers in the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 8 percent compared to the 1.5 million passengers carried in the same period of last year. The airline’s average seat load factor (passengers carried as a percentage of available seats) during the second quarter of 2014 was 84 percent.
Air Arabia’s first half net profit of AED 248 million (US$ 68m) also exceeded expectations, increasing 85 percent compared with the airline’s H1 2013 net profit of AED 134 million (US$ 36m). Meanwhile, the company’s turnover for the first half of 2014 increasd by 15 percent compared to last year’s first half to AED 1.74 billion (US$ 0.5b). More than 3,366,046 passengers flew with Air Arabia during the first half of 2014, an 11 percent increase on H1 last year.
Air Arabia opened its second hub in the UAE (the fourth worldwide) at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport in May this year. The carrier also added new routes during the first half of 2014 to Cairo, Egypt, and Antalya, Turkey from its main Sharjah International Airport hub, bringing total number of destinations served by the airline to 97.
Air Arabia was voted amongst the 10 most profitable Low Cost Carriers (LCC) in the world by Airline Business and is listed on the Dubai Financial Market under the symbol AIRARABI.
Air Arabia’s inaugural flight took off from Sharjah in October 2003.
Source: Air Arabia
Read: Air Arabia launches second UAE hub – April 16, 2014
