Sharjah-based budget carrier Air Arabia has announced a net profit of AED51m ($14m) for the second quarter, an increase of two per cent compared to same time last year.

In the second quarter 2010, the carrier achieved a net profit of AED50m.

Air Arabia posted a turnover of AED592m, a 22 per cent rise on the AED485m recorded last year. The airline served just under 1.2 million passengers in the second quarter of 2011, a five per cent rise on the 1.1 million that used the carrier last year.

“Air Arabia has consistently shown its resilience to dynamic market conditions,” says Abdullah bin Mohammad al-Thani, chairman of Air Arabia. “The second quarter of this year has seen fuel price averaging to 46 per cent increase in the market fuel bill compared to same quarter of correspondent year. The political turmoil of the region has continued with further escalation in several countries. Despite the challenging market conditions, Air Arabia has achieved steady growth and solid profits for the second quarter, thanks to our focused business model and appealing product.”

“We remain confident about the outlook of low cost travel in the region amidst market ambiguity, continuous challenging conditions and rise trend in fuel cost.”