Kuwait’s budget carrier, Jazeera Airways, said that it is bullish on the Egyptian market this year and expects double-digit growth, boosted by an improvement in the Kuwaiti economy.
"I still believe we can do a double- digit growth this year," Marwan Boodai, Jazeera Airways Group chairman, told The National on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association, the trade association that represents airlines from around the globe.
“We have positive signs. The demand is picking up … the population of Kuwait is growing, more projects are coming up, government expenditure, infrastructure, and in general the Kuwaiti public have got more disposable income so they travel a lot.”
Jazeera Airways’ first quarter net profit was down 41.8 per cent year-on-year at 2.1 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh27.3m). Revenue slipped to 13.8m dinars from 14.7m dinars.
Jazeera focuses on two-and-a-half hour flights out of Kuwait. The carrier said it plans to add one or more destinations this year; however, its main objective is to increase capacity to existing destinations.
Mr Boodai said that Egypt could be one of the destinations to which it could add capacity. Currently the Kuwaiti carrier flies to six destinations in Egypt, including Cairo, Alexandria and the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh.
“Egypt in general is now picking up. Cairo is very important for us. Kuwait holds the second biggest population of immigrant Egyptians after Saudi Arabia, so you can imagine the demand,” said Mr Boodai.
“Many Egyptians in Kuwait own houses in Sharm El Sheikh, but in general Egypt is coming back again. The past two-three years, the Egyptian market was driven by the Egyptian population living in Kuwait, today there are many Kuwaitis and tourists coming back to Egypt.”
Jazeera Airways was established in 2004, ending the national dominance of Kuwait Airways. Jazeera flies to 19 destinations across the Middle East, including Dubai, Manama, Beirut and Amman.
The company’s shares trade on the Kuwait exchange. Their range over the past year is between 430 and 540 dinars. Yesterday they closed at 455 dinars.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.