Asia’s airlines flying into headwinds
HONG KONG – Asia’s leading airlines continue to face turbulence as growth slows in the face of global economic concerns.
Thai Airways reported a 48% reduction in net profit and a 23% fall in operating profit in the three months ended March 31, as higher fuel costs and currency losses offset double-digit growth in revenue, strong demand and higher load factors.
Singapore Airlines, the world’s second-biggest airline by market value, saw first quarter 2008 profit fall 21 per cent and warned of slower demand amid record fuel costs.
SIA, which relies on premium and business travellers for about half its revenues, cautioned the current turmoil in global financial markets has clouded the outlook for air travel.
Combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for April 2008 show the number of passengers carried by the two airlines rising, though failing to keep pace with the increase in capacity.
In April the two airlines carried a total of 2,068,951 passengers – an increase of 7.2% over the same month in 2007 – and saw a 14.3% rise in capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs).
The month’s load factor was down 1.0 percentage points to 79.4%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried has risen by 13.6% – on a par with capacity growth of 13.4%.
Cathay Pacific general manager revenue management, sales & distribution Ian Shiu, said, “Generally we were pleased by our passenger performance in April, though comparisons with the same month last year are skewed by the fact that Easter fell in different months.
“Looking ahead, bookings remain within expectations through to the summer peak in July and August.”
Ian Jarrett
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