Jazeera Airways ups market share on various routes in 2012

Dubai: Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways said on Monday it has increased its market share on a number of routes in 2012, including to Amman and four cities in Egypt, besides increasing the number of passengers to Dubai and Jeddah.

The airline’s December 2012 and full year 2012 Operational Performance Report, quoting market share figures based on official statistics from Kuwait’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA), revealed that Jazeera Airways topped serving the Kuwait-Dubai route throughout 2012. The Kuwaiti budget carrier grabbed a 16 per cent market share on the Kuwait-Dubai route in 2012 over the previous year, it said in a statement.

The report further highlighted that the airline last year increased its market share on the Kuwait-Amman route by five per cent to 37 per cent, compared to the previous year. And it grabbed the leading market share of 59 per cent on the Kuwait-Sharm Al Shaikh route. On the Kuwait-Cairo, route, meanwhile, Jazeera Airways grabbed a 27 per cent market share in 2012, with an 11 per cent increase in number of passengers, the airline stated.

Also in 2012, the Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed company said, it carried 1.1 million passengers in total across its network. Commenting on the airline’s performance, Peter Morris, chief economist at aviation consultancy, Ascend, said, the emphasis on operational performance characteristics are “insufficient” to achieve long-term success of themselves. “Market shares do not equate to profitability,” he said.

Asked if Jazeera Airways’ growth was sustainable over a long period, Morris told Gulf News: “If Jazeera could develop bases in other Middle Eastern countries it would give it much greater business strength and potential.”

Another analyst, Saj Ahmad of StrategicAero Reseacrh, said, the airline] is here for the long term, especially as Kuwait Airways still “languishes”. “It will, however, struggle to compete with bigger rivals like flydubai and Air Arabia,” he said.