Net profit in the three months to September 30 came in at 4.4 million dinars ($15.7 million), compared with 0.76 million dinars in the year earlier period, Jazeera said in a statement, adding that it was the firm’s best-performing quarter since its establishment in 2005.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected the carrier to post an average net loss of 1.1 million dinars in the third quarter.

“This quarter’s results are the direct outcome of the initiatives we’ve put in place since the beginning of the year, starting with the 100 percent acquisition of Sahaab Aircraft Leasing in February and the introduction of the Turn-Around Plan in May,” Jazeera’s Chairman Marwan Boodai said in the statement.

Jazeera made a loss of 4.7 million dinars in the second quarter of this year.

In August, the airline canceled a premium on a planned rights issue and said it expected support from its shareholders and lenders to provide liquidity.

The carrier, which aims to fly 82 routes in the Middle East within the next five years, competes with United Arab Emirates-based Air Arabia and Dubai-based carrier flydubai which started operations last year.

Jazeera’s shares closed 10 percent higher on Monday after the market closed.