Jazeera Airways has firmed up an order with Airbus for 28 aircraft, including 20 A320neos and eight A321neos. The deal confirms the memorandum of understanding announced in November.
“Jazeera Airways is a long-standing partner of Airbus, and we are delighted to see them grow their all-Airbus fleet with an additional 28 A320neo Family aircraft,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer and head of Airbus International.
“The A320neo Family offers the right size, economics and customer comfort for Jazeera Airways to serve its growing customer base and open new routes competitively.
“We are pleased to confirm this latest order with Airbus,” said Rohit Ramachandran, Jazeera Airways chief executive. “By taking both A320neo and A321neo versions we will have great flexibility to extend our network to medium and longer haul destinations from Kuwait, offering passengers more choice to travel and enjoy popular destinations as much as under served ones.”
The Kuwaiti-based carrier announced its return to profitability in 2021, earlier this week. The earnings were supported by an increase of 48 per cent in the number of passengers flown, which reached one million, while load factors increased by 3.9 per cent to 67 per cent.
Operating revenue for 2021 stood at KD80 million (US$265 million), up 94 per cent, while operating profit increased by 152 to KD11 million (US$36 million).
The airline returned to profitability in record time during the third quarter of the year following a second year impacted by restrictions and limitations in capacity imposed on travel at Kuwait International Airport, and globally, in response to the continued spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the results Jazeera Airways chairman, Marwan Boodai, said: “Jazeera’s performance in 2021 is proof that its flexible and resilient business model continues to safeguard customers, employees and shareholders in times of crises. Financially, our airline took the right steps to control costs and limit cash burn, while operationally we focused on new destinations that satisfied an appetite to travel to destinations marked Covid-19-safe as well as catering to a high and latent demand for connecting flights between the Middle East, Asia and Europe.”
