The revenue of China Airlines Ltd (
But China Airlines chairman Philip Wei (
"More capacity and higher fares will boost our revenue, but I can't estimate profit margins as oil prices are an uncertainty," Wei said.
China Airlines' revenue rose 13 percent to NT$108.69 billion (US$3.38 billion) last year from the previous year's NT$96.18 billion, but net profit plunged 85 percent to NT$645.2 million from NT$4.18 billion the year before, as global crude oil prices rose more than 40 percent.
China Airlines has taken a series of measures to cope with stubbornly high oil prices, including cutting long-haul flights, where the impact of rising fuel prices is felt the most, streamlining its fleet to reduce maintenance costs, opening new routes, and seeking cooperation with Chinese airlines, Wei said.
Wei said China Airlines is reducing flights to long-haul destinations like Rome, Houston and New York, but increasing regional flights, especially to Japan.
The company will resume flights to Osaka and add the Taipei-Sapporo route on July 1 and the Kaohsiung-Nagoya route on July 2.
China Airlines has also been streamlining its fleet, as it plans to cut the number of plane models it operates to three by next year from four now, reducing the cost of maintenance, Wei said. In 1998, the airline operated seven plane models. The carrier is also interested in the booming China market, whose air cargo sector alone is projected to grow 10 percent annually over the next 20 years.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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