Air Arabia net profit soars to Dh160 million in first half of 2008, up 39

Abu Dhabi, Aug 4, 2008 (WAM) - Air Arabia announced yesterday its financial results for the period ending June 30, 2008, demonstrating continued superior performance and ongoing organic growth.

The company's net profit for the first half of this year stood at Dh160 million, an increase of 39
per cent compared to Dh115 million for the first six months of last year.

Air Arabia's net profit for the second quarter of this year reached Dh82
million, up 14 per cent compared to Dh71.7 million for the second quarter of
2007.

During the first half of 2008, the company registered a turnover of Dh871
million, up 70 per cent from Dh513 million for the first half of 2007. Air
Arabia's turnover for the second quarter of this year reached Dh487 million,
up 79 per cent compared to Dh272 million for the second quarter of 2007.

The airline served more than 1.6 million passengers during the first half of
2008, a 33 per cent increase compared to 1.2 million passengers during the
same period last year. Air Arabia served some 866,272 passengers in the
second quarter of this year, up 34 per cent compared to 646,000 passengers
in the second quarter of 2007. For the first six months of this year, Air
Arabia's average seat load factor - or passengers carried as a percentage of
available seats - stood at an extremely impressive 86 per cent, up 3.6 per
cent compared to the same period in 2007.

The Sharjah-based carrier also introduced four new destinations in the first
six months of this year, including Kozhikode and New Delhi, India; Shiraz,
Iran; and Dhaka, Bangladesh. This increases Air Arabia's total network to 41
destinations across the wider region.