Sharjah carrier Air Arabia reports H1 2021 net profit of Dhs44m, up 126% y-on-y

Sharjah headquartered airline Air Arabia reported a net profit of Dhs44m for the first six months ending June 30, 2021, an increase of 126 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

The low-cost carrier said that in H1 2021, it had posted a turnover of Dhs1bn, a 5 per cent increase compared to H1 2020.

More than 2.3 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between January and June 2021 across the carrier’s five hubs, while the airline’s average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – during that period stood at an average at 73 per cent.

During the second quarter ending June 30, 2021, Air Arabia said that it registered a net profit of Dhs10m, an increase of 104 per cent compared to the net loss reported for the same period last year.

This is the third consecutive profitable quarter for the airline since the start of the pandemic.

Air Arabia reports first half 2021 net profit of AED 44 million. Profitability supported by cost control measures and gradual flight resumption.https://t.co/5rtBOELtnR pic.twitter.com/mmoRjfJqef

— Air Arabia (@airarabiagroup) August 9, 2021

The company’s turnover for the second quarter of 2021 increased by 313 per cent to Dhs496m, compared to Dhs20m in the corresponding period last year.

More than 940,000 passengers flew with Air Arabia between March and June 2021 across the carrier’s five hubs while the airline’s average seat load factor during the second quarter of 2021 stood an average at 70 per cent.

During the first half of the year, Air Arabia also managed to expand its route network by launching new flights from its hubs in the UAE, Egypt and Morocco.

It partnered with Etihad Guest, the loyalty program of Etihad Airways, to allow members of both schemes to benefit from reciprocal points and miles transfers. In July this year, Air Arabia Group signed an agreement with The Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) to launch Armenia’s new national airline too.

“Air Arabia’s ability to post a profitable first half 2021, despite the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry worldwide, is a direct result of the cost control measures adopted by the management team and supported by the gradual resumption of operations witnessed in the first half,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia.

“While flights resumption compared to pre-pandemic are still subject to many restrictions, the second quarter of 2021 witnessed gradual improvement in comparison to same quarter last year, which was heavily impacted by the subsequent cancellation of scheduled flight operations.”