The officials results released by Air Arabia reported strong financial results for the first half ending June 30, 2018 as the low-cost carrier continued to deliver solid and sustained financial performance. Air Arabia reported a net profit of AED 230 million for the first half ending June 30, 2018; a 12 per cent less than the AED 261 million reported for the same period last year. The company’s turnover for the first six months of 2018 reached AED 1.816 billion, an increase of 6 per cent compared to AED 1.716 billion in the corresponding period last year. Air Arabia’s strong profits are registered despite the economic pressure that airlines have witnessed in the second quarter of this year, which was driven by lower yield margins, higher fuel prices and seasonality shift in traffic that the market has experienced. Marking strong growth in passenger demand, Air Arabia flew 4.2 million passengers during the first half of 2018 and the airline’s average seat load factor for the first six month of 2018 – passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – stood at impressive 79 per cent.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia said, “Air Arabia’s strong financial results are a testament to the airline’s robust growth strategy, operational efficiency and unwavering commitment to delivering on its value-added proposition for customers. The global aviation industry had to cope up with pressing economic challenges during the second quarter of this year and we are glad to see Air Arabia continuing to deliver strong financial and operational performance while maintaining its momentum growth across the breadth of its network.”