UPDATE 2-UAE's Air Arabia Q1 profit almost doubles

(Adds more details, recasts, CEO comment)

By Ola Galal and John Irish

DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - Air Arabia AIRA.DU, the Middle East's largest low-cost carrier, said first-quarter profit almost doubled after it carried more passengers.

The carrier, based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, said net income in the three months to March 31 surged to 78 million dirhams ($21.24 million) from 43 million a year earlier.

Turnover rose 59 percent to 383 million dirhams and the number of passengers rose to 757,000 from 577,000 in the year-ago period, it said in a statement.

Average load factor for the first three months of the year -- the percentage of seats occupied on each flight -- was 85 percent compared with 83 percent a year earlier.

"The quarter was good because of more passengers and seat factor, even with the challenges of continued inflation and high oil prices," Chief Executive Officer Adel Ali told Reuters by telephone.

Despite a challenging environment, its objective was to achieve similar profit growth this year to 2007, Ali said.

Profit last year jumped to 376 million dirhams from 101 million in 2006.