Air Arabia reports first quarter 2022 net profit of $79.21mln on recovery in travel

Air Arabia, the Middle East & North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier operator, reported on Wednesday a strong first quarter (January to March) 2022 as recovery in demand for air travel continued.

Air Arabia reported a net profit of $79.21 million (Dh 291 million) for the first three months ending March 31, 2022, an increase of 756 percent compared to $9.26 million (Dh 34 million) registered in the corresponding quarter in 2021. In the same period, the airline posted a turnover of $305 million (Dh 1.12 billion), a 97 percent increase in turnover compared to the first quarter of last year.

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The financial and operational results achieved in the first quarter were backed by the continuous recovery in demand for air travel.

More than 2.4 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between January and March 2022 across the carrier’s five hubs, an 86 percent increase compared to a total of 1.3 million passengers carried in the first quarter of last year.

The airline’s average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – during the first three months of 2022 stood at 79 percent, up 4 percent compared to the same period last year.

“The strong performance we witnessed last year continued in the first quarter of 2022 and was supported by higher customer demand for Air Arabia’s value driven product as well as rigid cost control measures that the airline took since the start of the pandemic,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia.

“We have continued with our network expansion strategy in the first quarter of this year by adding new routes and new frequencies across all operating hubs as well as continuing with preparations for the launch of our new ventures in Armenia and Pakistan,” he added.

Air Arabia added four new routes from its operating hubs in the UAE, Morocco, and Egypt in the first three months of 2022 and fully resumed its city check-in across the UAE.

Air Arabia Group also unveiled the brand identity of its latest two ventures ‘Fly Arna’ and ‘Fly Jinnah’ in Armenia and Pakistan respectively. Both joint ventures are expected to be operational by mid-year.

Al Thani concluded: “In addition to the lasting impact of COVID-19 on global aviation, the industry continues to face geo-political challenges, higher oil prices and uncertainty towards full economic recovery. Although all these challenges are of a changing nature, we have full confidence in the business model that we operate, the strength of the aviation industry worldwide, as well as its role in supporting regional and global economic recovery.”

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