China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest air carrier, yesterday posted a decline in month-on-month revenue for last month amid weaker demand for cargo services.
Revenue at the carrier fell slightly — 1.49 percent — from a month earlier to NT$10.64 billion (US$370.47 million), with cargo revenues decreasing 6.63 percent month-on-month to NT$3.94 billion, the company said in a statement.
“Last month’s falling revenues came from lower cargo demand from exporters,” CAL spokesman Hamilton Liu (劉國芊) said by telephone yesterday.
“The second quarter is historically the slow season for the cargo business,” he added.
As for passenger business, CAL posted NT$6.27 billion for last month, up 1.79 percent from a month earlier, on strong seasonal demand, as well as the rebounding passenger load factor in Japanese routes, Liu said.
The company expects that its revenue will return to growth in the second half of this year, with robust passenger demand in summer, Liu said, adding that the company’s cargo business would bottom out in the third quarter.
Compared with CAL, revenue at EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空), the nation’s second--largest air carrier, started its rebound last month, amid a better performance in both cargo and passenger business.
EVA posted NT$8.51 billion in revenues for last month, up 3.15 percent from a month earlier, with passenger revenue rising 3.12 percent to NT$4.63 billion, and cargo revenue increasing 3.08 percent month-on-month to NT$3.35 billion, the company’s financial data showed.
On a yearly basis, both air carriers posted falling revenue last month, with CAL’s down 12.33 percent last month, while EVA’s decreased 5.44 percent, on a higher comparison base last year, company data showed.
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