Jazeera reduces losses and Boodai says airline on target for profit

The Jazieera Group which owns both the airline and a leasing compamy narrowed its full-year net loss for 2010 to $10 million (KD2.8 million) from the KD8.2m ($35 million) net loss recorded the previous year.

Jazeera says its acquisition of leasing company Sahaab last year proved invaluable in helping the carrier to overcome the problem of overcapacity in its home market.

The airline saw an improvement towards the year end when it recorded a net profit of KD2 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 leading to Jazeera chairman Marwan Boodai says he is "optimistic about 2011", adding that the company is "working hard on sustaining profitability for the year"

According to ACAS, the Jazeera Group owns 11 Airbus A320s, six of which are operated by Jazeera Airways. The remaining aircraft are leased to Virgin America and Sri Lankan Airlines.

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