22-Feb-2010 5:17 PM

Royal Jordanian targeting 12% year-on-year increase in revenue in 2010; Kenya Airways flat

Royal Jordanian was up at the end of trading on Friday. Over the weekend, President and CEO, Hussein Dabbas, stated the carrier is targeting a 12% year-on-year increase in revenue in 2010 and a 10% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers. For 2009, the carrier reported USD843 million (JOD598 million) in revenue (-14.6% year-on-year) and transported 2.7 million passengers (-1.0% year-on-year).

The carrier expected 2010 to be "challenging", despite initial signs of improvement. RJ stated increasing revenues, controlling costs and carefully matching capacity to demand are the keys for the airline.

Kuwait Share Index upgraded

Also in the Middle East, Jazeera Airways (+1.9%) and Kuwait National Airways (+1.9%) were also up. The Kuwait Share Index has been on the rise since Friday, after Credit Suisse upgraded the index’s shares from ‘Underweight’ to ‘Neutral’, in response the Kuwaiti Government’s spending plan to boost economic development and lower borrowing costs. The government plans to increase spending by approximately 34% in the 12 months commencing 01-Apr-2010.

Meanwhile, Air Arabia was flat.

In Africa, 1time Holdings (+3.6%) made the biggest gain of the day, while Comair (+0.4%) was up marginally. Lonrho (-2.0%) was down, while Kenya Airways was flat.

Selected African and Middle Eastern airlines share price movements (% change): 19-Feb-2010