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Air Arabia (AIRARABI:DFM), the largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced a record net profit of AED 498 million (US$ 136m) for the first nine months of 2014, increasing 46 percent compared with the same period last year. The company attributes this year’s success to the effectiveness of its business model and its hub and network expansion strategy.
Air Arabia, which completed 11 years of operation last month, flew 5.1 million passengers during the nine months ending September 30, 2014, up 13 percent on the first nine months of 2013. The airline was recently named in the World Economic Forum’s Global Growth Companies (GGCs) list for 2014, the Forum’s annual list of the world’s most dynamic, high-growth companies.
Air Arabia currently operates a fleet of forty Airbus A320 aircraft, serving more than 100 routes from four hubs in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Egypt. During the last quarter, the airline added services to Antalya in Turkey from its primary hub in Sharjah, and services to Chittagong in Bangladesh from its recently opened hub in Ras Al Khaimah.
For the nine months ending September 30, 2014, the airline posted a turnover of AED 2.8 billion (US$ 0.8m), an increase of 17 percent compared to AED 2.4 billion (US$ 0.6b) in the same period of 2013. The average seat load factor for the same period stood at an impressive 82 per cent.
Air Arabia was voted amongst the 10 most profitable Low Cost Carriers (LCC) in the world by Airline Business and was awarded the Airline Business Award at the Airline Strategy Awards 2014. The carrier is listed on the Dubai Financial Market under the symbol AIRARABI.
The Sharjah-headquarterd airline’s inaugural flight took off from Sharjah International Airport in October 2003. The airport is a hub for a number of international passenger and cargo airlines and registered a 14 percent increase in overall passengers during the first three quarters of this year.
Sharjah expects to handle 25 million airline passengers by the year 2025.
Source: Air Arabia, media
