Nineper cent cash dividend approved at Air Arabia Annual General Meeting

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Nineper cent cash dividend approved at Air Arabia Annual General Meeting

Sharjah, UAE; March 9, 2015:Following the conclusion of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, the Board of Directors of Air Arabia announced that the assembly has approved the distribution of a 9 per cent cash dividend of the companys share capital for the year 2014, equivalent to 9fils per share.

During the AGM, the assembly approved the report of the companys 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.

The first and largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, Air Arabia, which now operates service to 104 destinations from fourglobal hubs, announced earlier that its 2014 net profit reached AED 566 million, up 30 per cent compared to 2013. Air Arabias total turnover for 2014 reached AED 3.7 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 pioneers 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 Arabias 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 airlines market share, which has led to a year of record profitability, higher revenues, steady increase in passenger numbers and a higher seat load factor.

He continued: 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 witha true value-for-money proposition.

Now in its eleventh year of successful operations, Air Arabia operates flights to 104 destinations. The award winning Low Cost Carrierhas 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.

In the past 12 months, Air Arabia was also named among the World Economic Forums prestigious Global Growth Companies for its innovation and market leadership in the aviation sector.