Kuwait's Jazeera Airways Q1 Net Profit Up; Upbeat For 2012

Thursday, May 03, 2012

(This story was originally published Wednesday.)

DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--Kuwait's Jazeera Airways Group, which unveiled major restructuring in 2010, said first quarter net profit rose 18% to 1.2 million Kuwaiti dinars ($4.3 million) on the year as yields rose.

First quarter average yield, the amount of revenue earned per revenue passenger miles, climbed 21% on the year as operating revenue rose 12% to KWD12.7 million, the airline said in a short statement.

Outlook for the year is good, it said, predicting a seasonal spike in traffic in the third quarter.

Established in 2005, Jazeera started a restructuring process in 2010 after posting a loss due to increased competition at home. Its so-called Turn-Around Plan redeployed assets and cut staff.

Regionally airlines are struggling because of high oil prices and ongoing political unrest.

Publicly-listed Jazeera carried 1.2 million passengers on its network in 2011 and owns 12 single-aisle Airbus A320s.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-05-12 0349GMT