Jazeera Airways Group announces record Q1 earnings

Net profit of KD1.2 million, up 17.8% Seven consecutive quarters of profitability

Freedom Town, Kuwait - May 2, 2012: In a webcast attended by local and international analysts, award winning Jazeera Airways Group today announced a record net profit of KD1.2 million for Q1 2012, making the quarter the seventh straight profitable quarter since Q3 2010 despite increasing fuel costs and political turmoil in some of its destinations.

Q1'12 Financial Highlights:

● Q1'12 Operating revenue: KD12.7 million, up 11.8% from Q1'11's KD11.4 million

● Q1'12 Operating profit: KD2.3 million, up 25.5% from Q1'11's KD1.8 million

● Q1'12 Net profit: KD1.2 million, up 17.8% from Q1'11's KD1.0 million

● Q1'12 Average yield: up 20.7% from Q1'11's

The results reflect the success of the company's Turn-Around Plan that was implemented in second quarter 2010 and had steered the company into continued profitability for the last seven quarters.

Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai said, "This is the first time in our history that we record seven straight quarters of profitability. Our strong performance clearly demonstrates the agility of the company's business model, which continues to perform in the wake of increasing fuel costs and political turmoil in Syria."

Established in 2005, Jazeera Airways Group is a Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed with a fleet of 12 fully-owned Airbus A320s, evenly distributed between its airline business, Jazeera Airways, and its fully-owned leasing-arm Sahaab Aircraft Leasing. Sahaab has assets placed with Virgin America, SriLankan Airlines, and Jazeera Airways.

Second Quarter and Full Year Outlook

The company's outlook for 2012 continues to be positive in-line with a growing Kuwaiti economy, which continues to witness higher incomes despite international and regional economic pressures. The company's forecasts remain unchanged and expects a mild second quarter, a seasonal increase in demand in the third quarter, and a mild fourth quarter to close the year.

-Ends-

About Jazeera Airways Group:
Established in 2005, Jazeera Airways Group is a Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed company with over 12,000 shareholders. The company has 12 fully-owned Airbus A320s in operation, distributed between its airline business, Jazeera Airways (six aircraft), and its fully-owned leasing business, Sahaab Aircraft Leasing (six aircraft). Sahaab has assets placed with Virgin America, SriLankan Airlines, and Jazeera Airways.

To date, the airline has flown over 8.8 million passengers since commencing operations in October 2005. In 2011, the airline carried 1.2 million passengers across its network that includes today high-demand business, leisure, family, and weekend destinations such as Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, Alexandria, Amman, Damascus, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Assiut, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Luxor, Mashhad, Sohag, Jeddah, Riyadh, Cairo and Najaf.

Jazeera Airways is an IATA member airline and operates one of the youngest Airbus A320 fleet in the Middle East.

For more information: jazeeraairways.com.

Reporters may contact:
Fawaz Al-Sirri + 965 (6) 6622448 / fawaz@bensirri.com