By Gabriel Neves, airwaysmag.com
UAE-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia (G9), the first and largest in the Middle East, has reported an AED44m (US$12m) loss in the third quarter as the pandemic is still affecting passenger demand, aviation portal Aviator reported on November 12.
According to the portal, “the company’s turnover for the third quarter of 2020 registered AED294m (US$80.05m), and a total of 665,456 passengers were served from all five hubs in the same period,” noting that the quarter “witnessed partial resumption of scheduled flights to a limited number of destinations across the Air Arabia network.”
Air Arabia’s Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani expressed a positive note on the airline’s Q3 operations. “We are pleased that Air Arabia registered these results in the third quarter amidst the continuing impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry worldwide,”
Al Thani said, adding that “the early measures taken by the management team to control overall cost while seizing revenue opportunities under current circumstances helped limit net loss.”
Resumption of Destinations
Unlike in the second quarter, which was mostly for cargo and repatriation flights, the airline gradually resumed services to a limited number of destinations in Q3.
“The third quarter witnessed the launch of Air Arabia Abu Dhabi with its first flight to Alexandria in July. This was followed by additional routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Cairo, Sohag, Dhaka, Kabul, Chattogram, and Khartoum,” the portal stated.
During that same time, the airline launched a subsidiary called Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, which, per the portal, “complements the services of Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi thereby catering to the growing low-cost travel market segment in the region.”
Today, G9 operates scheduled, charter, and cargo services across its hubs in the UAE, Morocco, and Egypt, while upgrading its passenger experience and adding high standard safety procedures to make flying safer.
