Another successful year for the owners of the Middle East’s only independent airline, Jazeera Airways. The low-budget airline posted profits of US$8.7m in 2006 and with new routes announced in September, profits are slated to grow even further next year according to CEO Marwan Boodai. In October, the airline announced it would further boost its capital by US$71.4m through shares’ subscription in a bid to finance expansion and enter new markets across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
Jazeera Airways, the first private sector airline which ended Kuwait’s 50-year dependence on a single national airline, has grown significantly since it was first established in May 2004 with a capital of US$34m – 30% of which is owned by a group of core founders while the rest was sold in a public offering. It raked in US$8.9m in its first operational year.
The airline, which has hubs in Dubai and Kuwait, recently applied to join the Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest trading platform in the Middle East. Its directors hope to list the company during this year’s second quarter.
In addition to Jazeera Airways, the family also owns the Boodai Corporation, a Kuwait-based group of diverse companies engaged in construction, heavy equipment, building materials, engineering and equipment, transport, shipping and energy. Set up in the 1950s to supply equipment and tools to the nascent oil exploration industry, the company now has a workforce of around 3500 people. The Boodai Corporation is divided into eight sectors, and overall control maintained by the family. With a large presence in the Middle East the company also has offices in Europe and Japan.
Although Jazeera Airways has undoubtedly added to the total wealth of the family, real estate is also a big part of the family’s business. Dubai’s fledgling Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) industry is expected to be worth more than US$10bn in five years, while Islamic real estate funds based in Gulf Arab countries account for about US$100bn of the estimated US$750bn in Islamic assets worldwide. Fahed Boodai is managing director of Global Securities House in Kuwait, which manages US$1bn in Sharia-compliant real estate assets.
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