Beating Analyst Expectations, Jazeera Airways Returns to Profitability With Strong Earnings of KD 4.4 Million for Q3, 2010

    KUWAIT CITY, November 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

    - Best Quarter for the Airline in its 5-year run

    - Leads Market Share on all Routes vs. Kuwaiti Carriers

    - New Revenue Streams Introduced With Leasing arm

    - Full Ownership of Fleet Provided the Flexibility

Jazeera Airways Group today announced strong third quarter bottom line profit of KD 4.4 million, making the quarter its best performing quarter since establishment in 2005.

    Q3 Financial highlights:             Q3 Operations highlights:
    - Operating revenues: KD 14,046,185, - Flown passengers: 365,163
    - Operating profit: KD 3,426,617     - On-time performance: 94%
    - Net Profit: KD 4,413,120           - Market share as of Sept 30: 40.05%
                                         - Load factor: 70%

Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai said "This quarter's results are the direct outcome of the initiatives we've put in place since the beginning of the year, starting with the 100% acquisition of Sahaab Aircraft Leasing in February and the introduction of the Turn-Around Plan (TAP) in May.

"TAP was a plan to reduce our costs, to optimize our network, and to ensure we operate just the right fleet size for our market given the overcapacity we've seen dumped in our market over the last year and beginning of this year. The acquisition of Sahaab perfectly complemented this plan by providing us a vehicle to place excess aircraft on long-term leases with world-class carriers. This successfully introduced a new revenue stream for the company. Together, these initiatives successfully put the airline back on the road to profitability, as today we operate a profitable airline business and a profitable aircraft leasing business. The fact that Jazeera Airways Group owns its entire fleet made this possible."

Boodai added: "Today, we are operating the right fleet size on profitable routes, our commitment to our passengers is to provide them the best value fares at the highest operational standards on all routes we operate and our commitment to our employees and shareholders is to work towards achieving consistent profitability before growth."

With the introduction of TAP, Sahaab accessed global leasing markets and placed four Airbus A320s on long term lease with Virgin America, while Jazeera Airways has been capturing a leading market share month on month on all of the routes it operates, with the exception of its destinations to Saudi Arabia where it is restricted to a lower seat capacity compared other airlines.

    Market share as of Sept 30th

               Route               Market           Route        Market Share
                                    Share
    Kuwait-Alexandria (ALY+ HBE)     43%     Kuwait-Deirezzour       100%
    Kuwait-Amman                     34%     Kuwait-Doha             13%
    Kuwait-Aleppo                   100%     Kuwait-Dubai            18%
    Kuwait-Assiut                    64%     Kuwait-Istanbul         18%
                                             (SAW+IST)
    Kuwait-Bahrain                   21%     Kuwait-Luxor            54%
    Kuwait-Beirut                    35%     Kuwait-Mashhad          28%
    Kuwait-Damascus                  41%     Kuwait-Sharm El         42%
                                             Sheikh

Winner of Arabian Business Magazine's 'Best in Aviation 2010' award and Gold Winner of Magnum Opus 2010 awards, Jazeera Airways operates to 17 destinations across the Middle East.

About Jazeera Airways Group: Based in Kuwait, Jazeera Airways Group is the holding entity for Jazeera Airways, a Kuwait-based airline, and Sahaab Aircraft leasing.

Jazeera Airways was established in October 2005 and has a fleet of 11 new Airbus A320s serving 17 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. To date, the airline has flown over 6.5 million passengers since commencing operations in October 2005. In 2009, the airline carried over 1.8 million passengers, capturing over 22% of the market share and making it the largest operator at Kuwait Airport. 2010 passengers' figures will be announced on February 2011. For more information: http://www.jazeeraairways.com/

Sahaab Aircraft Leasing was established in October 2008 and fully acquired by the Group in 2010. The company acquires and leases high-utility commercial aircraft for customers. For more information: http://sahaableasing.com/

SOURCE Jazeera Airways Group