BAHRAIN AIRPORT COMPANY REFLECTS ON IMPRESSIVE 2018 PERFORMANCE

Bahrain International Airport operator, Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), today anounced a US$50.9 million net profit in 2018, a significant jump compared to US$34 million the previous year.

Commenting on the results, His Excellency the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, said: “These impressive figures are the result of collaborative efforts between BAC and its partners, as well as ongoing improvements to BIA’s infrastructure and services as part of the Airport Modernisation Programme.

“With the company’s solid financial position, increased business activity, and a promising operating environment at BIA, we are confident that we can build on our success in 2019, continuing the aviation sector’scontribution to the local economy in line with Bahrain’s Vision 2030.

“The launch of the new Passenger Terminal Building later this year, which will increase BIA’s capacity to 14 million passengers a year, is expected to generate even further growth across both aero and non-aero revenue streams.”

He also added that the results come on the back of a 21% increase in revenues to US$134 million, up from US$110 million at the end of 2018.

The year saw a surge in cargo traffic, which reflects BIA’s ability to handle significantly larger volumes and reaffirms the Kingdom’s position as an important regional logistics hub.

In addition, the increased number of airlines operating out of BIA resulted in greater revenue from landing fees and heavy footfall through retail areas.

Growth across both aero and non-aero revenue streams in 2018 was significant, with aero income increasing by 18% and non-aero income rising by 28%.

The main contributors to aero revenue growth, says BAC, were passenger service charges, at 56% of the total aero revenues, and landing fees at 19%.

The increase in non-aero revenues is largely due to property and real estate income, which makes up 33% of the total non-aero revenues, followed by retail concession income at 31%.