Middle East Business: Air Arabia reports strong Q1 growth; turnover soars to $305m – Gulf Digital News

Middle East Business: Air Arabia reports strong Q1 growth; turnover soars to $305m – Gulf Digital News

Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia has reported a strong first quarter (January to March) with a net profit of AED291 million ($79.2 million), an increase of 756 per cent compared to AED34 million registered in the corresponding period last year, as recovery in demand for the air travel continued.

Announcing the financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2022, Air Arabia said for the same period, the airline recorded a 97% increase in turnover which soared to AED1.12 billion.

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 an impressive 79 percent, up 4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Commenting on the results, Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani said: "The strong performance we witnessed last year continued in the first