Air Arabia's Q2 profit surges as air travel demand rebounds

Middle East budget airline Air Arabia posted a surge in second-quarter profit as the number of passengers carried nearly tripled amid a rebound in air travel demand. Net profit for the three-month period ended June 30 jumped to Dh160m ($43.57m) from Dh10m in the same quarter last year, Air Arabia said Wednesday. The airline's revenue for the period more than doubled to Dh1.11b, from Dh496m in Q2 2021. “The strong performance we witnessed in the first quarter of this year continued in the second quarter and was supported by higher customer demand and cost control measures adopted by the management team,” Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia, said. “Air Arabia remains focused on diversifying and expanding its business while investing in product innovation and adopting further measures to control costs.” Demand for air travel is recovering as border restrictions ease and people take advantage of the freedom to travel after two years of Covid-19 lockdowns. However, higher oil prices, rising inflation and a shortage of labour have challenged the global aviation industry's recovery as airlines race to ramp up operations to keep pace with demand.<br/>