Revenue for the nation’s two largest airlines declined last month from September as the market expected, as their passenger business entered into the traditional slack season following the end of summer vacation.
China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空), Taiwan’s largest carrier, posted NT$10.37 billion (US$355.14 million) in revenue last month, down 1.52 percent from September and 9.51 percent from the same period last year, the company said in its stock exchange filing.
Revenue from its passenger sector amounted to NT$6.84 billion last month, down 0.44 percent and 0.15 percent from a month and a year earlier respectively, company statistics showed.
For its cargo business, revenue continued to slow on the impact of sluggish global economic sentiment, totaling NT$3.09 billion last month, down 5.79 percent from September and 25.18 percent from October last year, CAL statistics showed.
Compared with CAL, steady cargo demand driven by shipments of Apple Inc’s new products helped maintain revenue at EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空) — the nation’s second-largest airline — last month.
The carrier posted NT$8.59 billion in revenue last month, down 0.58 percent from a month earlier, but up 1.27 percent from a year earlier, according to the company’s stock exchange filing data.
Its passenger revenue dropped 1.94 percent from September to NT$5.06 billion last month, which was still a 4.76 percent increase from a year ago, company statistics showed.
However, the airline posted NT$2.97 billion in revenue last month for the cargo sector, up 3.13 percent from September, on the back of the company’s move to sign a contract with Apple, data showed.
Despite EVA’s cargo sales posting a 5.71 percent drop from October last year, the company’s move to offer chartered flights to ship Apple’s newly launched products has helped it partially maintain the sector’s momentum, according to a research note issued by HSBC Securities last month.
Brokerage house Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said EVA’s revenue for last month was higher than it had expected.
However, the airline sector’s sales and profitability may still lose momentum in the fourth quarter on the traditional low seasonal demand from passenger business and the still slack cargo traffic outlook, Capital Securities said.
Revenue for TransAsia Airways Corp (TNA, 復興航空) — the third listed Taiwanese airline, which focuses on regional passenger business — totaled NT$794.86 million last month, up 6.51 percent and 9.44 percent from a year and a month earlier respectively, on the back of contributions from its six newly launched routes to Japan in the second half of the year, according to the carrier’s financial data.
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