The low-cost carrier (LCC) market in the Middle East hit turbulence this week with the announcement of the closure of the privately-owned Bahrain Air.

The liquidation of the airline has provoked a squabble over who is to blame for the demise of the company, with Bahrain Air blaming the political and social unrest in the country in 2011, which led to the cancellation of certain routes, coupled with a lack of government support.

In contrast, the Bahraini government places the blame with the airline and its supposed inability to manage its finances. Yet, with a string of positive profit announcements from other LCC airlines in the region, the demise of Bahrain Air does not signal the failure of the business model in the Middle East.

On the same day that Bahrain Air announced its liquidation, the government-backed Dubai-based low-cost airline Flydubai said it had become profitable for the first time since its launch three years ago.

Other budget carriers in the region are also growing. Air Arabia, the first LCC to be established in the Middle East, has reported rising customer numbers, with more than 5.3 million passengers using the airline last year. Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways posted record profits of KD13.9m ($49.3m), an increase of 32 per cent on 2011. The positive results suggest that despite Bahrain Air’s closure, the LCC model is far from defunct in the Middle East.