Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, announced its financial results for the three months ending September 30, 2011, demonstrating sustainable profitability during the third quarter of this year.

Air Arabia’s net profit for the three months ending September 30, 2011, which was in line with analyst forecasts, stood at AED 100 million, a decline of 26 per cent compared to AED 136 million in the corresponding period in 2010. In the third quarter of this year, Air Arabia posted a turnover of AED 691 million, an increase of 22 per cent compared to AED 568 million in the same period of 2010.

The airline served 1,199,973 passengers in the third quarter of 2011, an increase of five per cent compared to 1,147,066 passengers in the same period last year. In the three months ending September 30, 2011, Air Arabia’s average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – stood at an impressive 81 per cent.

“Air Arabia is pleased to announce such solid financial performance despite continued challenging market conditions,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia. “Air Arabia’s sustained quarterly profits, high seat load factor and rising passenger traffic reflect the appeal of our services and demonstrates the strength of Air Arabia’s business model.

“The challenging markets conditions we have seen in the second quarter of this year continued in the third quarter, with a further escalation in the political turmoil in several countries and an upward trend in the average fuel bill. Despite these challenging market conditions, Air Arabia’s solid profits and steady growth reflect the airline’s commercial and operational strength.

“After crossing the 20-million passenger mark in the third quarter of 2011, we would like to thank all our customers for choosing to fly with Air Arabia. We look forward to serving many more passengers in the months and years to come.”

In the third quarter of 2011, Air Arabia took delivery of two new A320 aircraft from Airbus. The latest Airbus A320 arrived on schedule from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France, marking the delivery of a total of six out of 44 A320 aircraft ordered in 2007.

Air Arabia also started operation to the city of Gassim, Saudi Arabia, in the third quarter and unveiled plans to introduce service to a series of new destinations before the end of this year.

As further testament to its successful business model, Air Arabia won the top award in the category of “Innovation in Operations - Low-Cost Carrier Airline” at the recent Express Travel World Awards 2010-2011, held in New Delhi, India.