The Middle East’s largest cheap airline, Air Arabia, doubled profits in the third quarter of the year as the sector continues to show signs of momentum.
In the currency effects for the three months ending Sept. 30, the UAE-based airline said it made a net profit of AED416 million ($113 million), representing a 99% increase over the same period in 2021.
Revenue in the last quarter reached AED 1600 million, one hundred percent more than the previous year, as more than 3. 9 million passengers boarded its aircraft.
The airline operates from six hubs in the Middle East and neighboring countries, plus the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Egypt. It has continued to expand its presence with the launch of the Fly Arna joint venture in Armenia in June. The organization has added 10 aircraft to its fleet and 14 destinations to its steering network this year.
Its most recent projects include the launch of two other airline joint ventures: a partnership with DAL Group to launch Air Arabia Sudan and a new airline in Pakistan, Fly Jinnah, which began this month.
The group’s chairman, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani, said its purpose would be “diversification and expansion. “
Profit for the first nine months of the year now reached AED 867 million, up 240% from the 2021 era, while turnover increased by 106% to AED 3800 million.
Aviation in the Middle East has not yet fully recovered from the collapse of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is getting closer. According to OAG industry analysts, Dubai International Airport is now operating at 86% of 2019 capacity levels, while hubs are not far away: Doha is operating at 85% of 2019 capacity and Abu Dhabi at 77%. The 3 centers now serve more destinations than before the pandemic began.
Part of the expansion comes from cheap airlines. OAG estimates that those airlines now account for 25% of the business in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where Flydubai, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi have bases.
“While classic operators have built those hubs, largely thanks to long-distance foreign connectivity, they have paved the way for [low-cost operators] to now access a more established regional market,” OAG said in a report. in October expired.
Other airlines in the wider region are also posting strong interim results. Last week, Turkish Airlines reported third-quarter earnings of $6. 1 billion, up 52% from the same era in 2019, before the pandemic hit.
In a recent interview, Turkish Airlines President Ahmet Bolat said the organization plans to split its short-haul department AnadoluJet in light of the uptick in demand.
“In the existing dynamics of market demand, it is much less difficult to turn AnadoluJet into a separate unit to drive its growth,” he said on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association convention in Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways said it consistently surpassed one million passengers with the watch for the first time in its history. Its third-quarter effects also saw its cash and profit figures, at KD 63. 2 million ($204 million) and KD 13. 4 million respectively. .