Jazeera Airways’ growth continues as 1H profit improves

Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways substantially increased its profit figures for the 2019 first half, as the hybrid carrier continued to expand its route network and prepared to launch its first service to Europe. The airline reported a KD6.2m ($20.4m) net profit Monday, more than four times greater than the KD1.4m recorded for 1H 2018. Revenue rose 37.4% to KD47.3m and passenger numbers grew by 20% to 1.1m. One factor behind the improved figures is fleet utilization, which has risen steadily in the past two years and stood at 14.8 hours in Q2 2019. Load factor has also improved significantly over that period. Jazeera was traditionally profitable with load factors in the 60% range, but in the last quarter these reached 77.6%, up 3.9% on the same period a year ago. Passenger yield for the second quarter was up 11.5% at KD45.6. The results come as Jazeera prepares to launch its first long-haul route, making use of its newly delivered Airbus A320neo’s range to start a daily Kuwait-London Gatwick service on Oct. 27. The airline describes the sector as the first long-haul route to be operated by a Middle East LCC, although Sharjah-based Air Arabia operates to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<br/>
ATW
https://atwonline.com/airline-financials/jazeera-airways-growth-continues-1h-profit-improves
8/6/19