UAE-based Air Arabia, the largest low-cost carrier operating in the Mena region, announced that a nine per cent cash dividend for the year 2014 has been approved at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today (March 10) in Sharjah.

During the AGM, the assembly approved the report of the company’s auditors for the financial year ending December 31, 2014, as well as the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts for the same period. The assembly also discharged the directors and auditors of the company from liability for the financial year ending December 31, 2014, and appointed auditors for the company for the next fiscal year in order to fix their remuneration.

Air Arabia, which now operates service to 104 destinations from four global hubs, announced earlier that its 2014 net profit reached Dh566 million ($154 million), up 30 per cent compared to 2013.

Air Arabia’s total turnover for 2014 reached Dh3.7 billion ($1 billion), an increase of 17 per cent on 2013, driven by increased passenger numbers.

Air Arabia served 6.8 million passengers in the 12 months ending December 31, 2014, an increase of 12 per cent compared to previous year. The low-cost pioneer’s seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – reached an impressive 81 per cent in 2014.

“We are very pleased to be able to share Air Arabia’s success with our shareholders by distributing a nine per cent cash dividend,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia.

“The year 2014 represented significant milestones for the airline as we expanded our presence to many new destinations and increased the airline’s market share, which has led to a year of record profitability, higher revenues, steady increase in passenger numbers and a higher seat load factor.

“While the global aviation sector continues to confront operating challenges influenced by the surrounding political and economic events, we firmly believe that Air Arabia is uniquely placed to thrive by providing its customers with a growing range of destinations combined with a true value-for-money proposition,” he added.

Now in its eleventh year of successful operations, Air Arabia operates flights to 104 destinations. The award winning Low Cost Carrier has seen its flight network expand substantially with the addition on prominent new routes, such as Cairo in Egypt and Antalya in Turkey, from its main base at Sharjah International Airport.

The carrier now operates from four international hubs, including the UAE (Sharjah & Ras al-Khaimah), Morocco, Egypt and has announced plans to soon start operations from its fifth hub in Amman, Jordan. – TradeArabia News Service