China Airlines looks to profitability, SkyTeam membership this year

TAIWAN flag carrier China Airlines is looking to recover this year and return to profitability after its fourth loss-making year, reports Dow Jones Newswires.

"There is a pickup in cargo and an overall recovery in demand," China Airlines chairman Philip Wei said in the report.

Company president Sun HH said the carrier, marking its 50th anniversary, is likely to report a profit for each of the last three months of the year, but losses suffered earlier will bring about an overall loss for the year.

The carrier had a profit of NT$900 million (US$27.8 million) in November and NT$1.5 billion in October, Mr Sun said. "We will likely make a profit in December as well."

A pickup in global demand for exports boosted the carrier's revenue 19 per cent in November to NT$11.04 billion, the highest monthly revenue since August 2008, after a 6.7 per cent drop in October revenue to NT$9.71 billion.

China Airlines posted a net loss of NT$4.99 billion for the January-September period and a 27 per cent drop in revenue to NT$70.63 billion, because of weak passenger demand and depressed air cargo rates.

China Airlines also hopes to join the SkyTeam alliance this year. SkyTeam members include Delta, Korean Air, and Air France-KLM, with which China Airlines has code-sharing agreements.
 

Source: SchedNet