Major airlines expect sales momentum this quarter to beat seasonality to remain flat from the third quarter — the traditional peak period for the sector — mainly driven by strong passenger demand on routes to Japan following the Japanese yen’s latest depreciation.
The Japanese currency has shrunk under the 115 yen mark versus the US dollar, after the Bank of Japan announced last week it is expanding its monetary easing policy to fight against deflation.
So far this week, the yen has depreciated about 3.5 percent against the greenback.
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) chairman Sun Hung-hsiang (孫洪祥) said the continued weakness of the yen is beneficial for the company’s sales, adding that he hoped more Taiwanese would be interested in visiting Japan.
“Sales from Japanese routes are always an important source of earnings for CAL,” Sun told reporters at the annual Taipei International Travel Fair yesterday.
Sales generated from the routes to Japan currently account for about 20 percent of CAL’s passenger business, with the company expecting consolidated sales this year to rise 7 to 8 percent from last year, Sun said.
EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空) president Austin Cheng (鄭傳義) shared Sun’s views.
“We have not yet seen the momentum of the company’s Japanese routes show any sign of slowing down,” Cheng said.
Cheng said the stronger-than-expected demand on Japanese routes might help the company’s sales in the October-to-December period beat seasonality.
TransAsia Airways Corp’s (TNA, 復興航空) new president Fred Wu (吳滬生) also expects the carrier’s sales in the last three months of the year to remain flat from the July-to-September period — the traditional peak season for the carrier’s passenger business — because of the higher sales contribution from Japanese routes.
The carrier plans to expand its fleet to meet rising demand for Japan-bound flights, as well as launches more promotion activities to seize the growing business opportunities, he said.
In related news, the nation’s two listed freight forwarders and logistics operators have seen their profitability for the first nine months of the year show a significant increase from last year due to better product mix and customer structure.
Dimerco Express Group (中菲行國際物流) saw net profit total NT$187.52 million (US$6.1 million), or NT$1.45 per share, in the first nine months of the year, up 81.2 percent from the same period last year, a company statement showed.
THI Global Holdings Corp (台驊國際投資控股) also posted net profit of NT$179.29 million, or NT$1.94 per share, in the first nine months of the year, up 79.6 percent from the same period last year and marking the highest period level in its history, company statistics showed.
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