UAE budget carrier Air Arabia reported a 6 per cent rise in fourth quarter net profit on Saturday, helped by a rise in passenger numbers but still short of forecasts.

Air Arabia earned a net profit of Dh83 million ($22.6 million), up from Dh77.5 million in the same period last year, the airline said in a statement.

The earnings fell short of estimates of analysts polled by Reuters who expected an average profit of Dh91.7 million.

Revenues for the quarter rose 18 per cent year-on-year to Dh755 million, Air Arabia said. In 2012, Air Arabia carried more than 5.3 million passengers, compared with 4.7 million in 2011.

Sharjah-based Air Arabia is the only publicly-listed carrier operating out of the UAE, which is also home to Dubai government-owned Emirates and Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.

It competes with other budget carriers like flydubai and Kuwait's Jazeera Airways in challenging market conditions in the region. Bahrain Air announced plans to shut down on Tuesday, blaming political unrest in Bahrain and continuing debt woes.-Reuters