Major airlines’ revenue growth remained in negative territory last month, but declined at a slower pace due to last year’s lower comparison base, companies’ data showed.
China Airlines Ltd’s (CAL, 中華航空) revenue fell 10.77 percent annually to NT$8.33 billion (US$294.1 million) last month, easing from a decline of 38.86 percent in January, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) saw its revenue slide 34.44 percent to NT$5.8 billion last month, compared with a fall of 54 percent in January, its data showed.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
Both airlines’ revenue began to drop considerably in February last year due to COVID-19. With restrictions on international travel, airlines have had to focus on cargo.
EVA’s cargo operations made up 80 percent of its total revenue last month, compared with just 14 percent a year earlier, while CAL saw revenue from its cargo service account for 89 percent of its total revenue, compared with 24 percent before the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed.
By comparison, Tigerair Taiwan Ltd’s (台灣虎航) revenue declined 96.3 percent year-on-year to NT$21.65 million last month, marking the 11th consecutive month that its sales have fallen by more than 90 percent, as the low-cost carrier has no cargo planes.
In the first two months, CAL’s cumulative revenue declined 27.97 percent annually to NT$17.36 billion and EVA’s revenue halved to NT$12.5 billion, while Tigerair reported a 97.9 percent fall in revenue to NT$30 million, data showed.
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