Jazeera Airways registers KD 6 mln net profits in H1

02/08/2016 05:28 AST

Jazeera Airways on Monday announced its second quarter financial results, reporting Q2 operating revenues of KD 24.7 million and a net profit of KD 2.0 million, bringing the company's year-to-date net profit to KD 6.0 million. (KD1 = $3.3)

"We are pleased to report another strong quarter on the back of higher passenger numbers, in terms of both volume and load factor. We closed the year with a load factor of 72.4%, which is a full 10% higher than our peers' average load factor on the routes we operate," Jazeera Airways Chairman Marwan Boodai said in a press release. "That's not to say it wasn't a challenging quarter, we saw more capacity being dumped on our routes, rising fuel costs, and an expected shift of the summer season as most of Ramadan has now moved into Q2, thus shifting revenue and travel trends and slightly impacting our earnings," Boodai added.

Our outlook for the year remains unchanged and in line with our sector's seasonality. While the excessive overcapacity on the sectors we operate poses a downward pressure on our yields, we expect to counter this pressure in Q3, which only had 5 days of Ramadan, and close the year with growth in our operational profits and our bottom line," he noted.

Meanwhile, in July, Jazeera Airways was officially notified that its request to be allocated land at Kuwait International Airport to build a dedicated terminal was approved by the cabinet, Boodai said. The terminal is a solution proposed by the airline to help ease the congestion at the country's only primary airport, which is currently operating over capacity.

The project's investment value is KD14 million, and its total construction time frame is 15 months, including the permits acquisitions phase, the chairman explained. Established in 2005, Jazeera Airways is a Kuwait Stock Exchangelisted company serving popular destinations in the Middle East. The airline operates a ? eet of Airbus A320 aircrafts with two class cabins comprising a Business Class and an Economy Class.

Arab Times