Air Arabia's board proposed a dividend distribution of 8.5 per cent of share capital for 2021. Photo: Air Arabia
Air Arabia's board proposed a dividend distribution of 8.5 per cent of share capital for 2021. Photo: Air Arabia
Air Arabia's board proposed a dividend distribution of 8.5 per cent of share capital for 2021. Photo: Air Arabia
Air Arabia's board proposed a dividend distribution of 8.5 per cent of share capital for 2021. Photo: Air Arabia

Air Arabia swings to profit in 2021 as travel demand recovers and restrictions ease


Deena Kamel
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Middle East budget airline Air Arabia swung to a full-year profit in 2021 as governments around the world began to ease travel restrictions and passenger demand started to recover.

Net profit reached Dh720 million ($196m) for the year ended December 31, up from a loss of Dh192m in 2020 that was heavily affected by pandemic-related curbs on air travel, Air Arabia said in a statement on Monday. Revenue increased 71 per cent year-on-year to Dh3.17 billion in 2021 as the airline's passenger numbers increased.

“Air Arabia’s full year record profitability is a testament to the strength of the business model we operate, the group’s management team, as well as the diversification and growth strategy adopted,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammad Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia, said.

“The year 2021 continued to be challenging for the aviation industry worldwide because of the lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions it imposed on air travel. Despite that … Air Arabia managed to deliver such a performance, signalling a steady recovery for the industry.”

Pressure on airlines' profitability has eased since the fourth quarter of 2021 and that improvement is expected to continue this year with recovering passenger traffic and strong cargo demand, a recent survey by the International Air Transport Association found.

UAE-listed Air Arabia has been pushing ahead with expansion after the Covid-19 pandemic as low-cost airlines bet on a recovery in short-haul travel demand amid rapid vaccine campaigns around the world. Air Arabia signed three joint-venture deals to establish new airlines in Abu Dhabi, Armenia and Pakistan.

The airline carried more than 6.7 million passengers in 2021 from its five hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt, an increase of 54 per cent on 2020.

The average seat load factor — the number of passengers carried as a percentage of available seats — reached 73 per cent.

Air Arabia's fourth-quarter net profit rose to Dh467m, from Dh20m in the same period in 2020, marking its fifth consecutive profitable quarter since the pandemic started, it said.

Revenue for the final quarter of 2021 more than doubled year-on-year to Dh1.3bn.

Higher passenger demand and stronger yield margins, combined with the cost control measures adopted by the airline since the start of the pandemic, contributed to the fourth-quarter performance, the chairman said.

Air Arabia carried more than 2.5 million passengers from its five hubs in the last three months of 2021, double the number of passengers carried in the same period a year earlier.

The average seat load factor increased by 6 per cent, reflecting the increase in demand for air travel during the last quarter, to stand at 81 per cent.

Brief scores:

Manchester City 3

Aguero 1', 44', 61'

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Koscielny 11'

Man of the match: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier

The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier

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2 Qatar 5 4 1 8

3 Saudi 5 3 2 6

4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4

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Top financial tips for graduates

Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:

1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.

2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.

3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.

4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.

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Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

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Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.

The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.

Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years

 

Museum of the Future in numbers
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  •  7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
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  •  100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
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Updated: May 12, 2023, 3:53 PM