Jazeera Airways to increase airfares as oil prices rise

Dubai: Jazeera Airways will add a fuel surcharge to its ticket prices in two weeks to offset the impact of high oil prices, according to the budget airline's top executive.

"We have already increased the airfares and they will come into effect in two weeks from now due to rising oil prices," Marwan Boodai, Jazeera Airways Group Chairman, told Gulf News on Tuesday in a phone interview.

"I cannot say how much the increase is, but it's going to be minimal. We have never had a major hike."

Oil prices peaked to a 10-month high above $125 per barrel in recent weeks, forcing carriers such as Emirates to add a fuel surcharge.

Record net profit

The news comes as the Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed company on Tuesday announced record net profit of 10.6 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh137.8 million) for 2011, with an earnings per share of 48 fils, against a net loss of 2.8 million dinars in the previous year.

"The year has been our best performing ever, and 2012 looks promising, too," Boodai said adding that the company is optimistic about topping its profits this year against 2011.

The airline's revenue for the year, meanwhile, reached 57.8 million dinars, up 36 per cent from last year, while operating profit for 2011 stood at 14.9 million dinars.

While competing carriers such as Air Arabia and flydubai are aggressively expanding reach and fleet, Jazeera Airways, which flies to 18 destinations, has no plans to do either.

"We don't need to buy more planes and add more routes at this point. We are growing very well from our base in Kuwait. It is not the right time for additional purchases.

"The company's board has held purchasing until the end of 2014," he told Gulf News.

He added that the airline will take delivery of two more planes in 2013, with the last of the 15 initially ordered to join the fleet in 2014.

No second hub

He also said that the carrier, which once operated a second hub out of Dubai International Airport, having withdrawn it later, will not look at another hub outside Kuwait.

Dubai acted as Jazeera Airways' second hub earlier, enabling it to operate extended services, but due to regulatory requirements that followed by the UAE aviation authorities, the carrier was forced to halt its operations from Dubai International Airport.