TransAsia Airways Corp (TNA, 復興航空) is aiming to achieve annual sales of NT$20 billion (US$632.01 million) this year, driven mainly by its budget carrier V Air (威航), a company executive said yesterday.
TransAsia posted NT$13.17 billion in consolidated sales last year, the highest level in the company’s history and up 8.56 percent from 2013, the company said in a statement.
“The company is challenging itself to raise annual consolidated sales to NT$20 billion this year,” TransAsia chairman Vincent Lin (林明昇) told a media briefing yesterday.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
V Air, a low-cost carrier that began operations last month, is ready to take delivery of its second aircraft in April or May, as the carrier is planning to fly new routes to Northeast Asia, Lin said.
V Air’s fleet may expand to four or five aircraft by the end of this year and will generate more revenue for TransAsia, he said.
TransAsia is scheduled to begin offering a daily service on its route between Taipei and Sapporo, Japan, this year, Lin said. Currently, the carrier has two flights per week on the route.
TransAsia is continuing its search for appropriate destinations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, as the airline considers expanding its routes in the future, Lin added.
The fast decline in global crude oil prices over the past few months has helped ease cost pressures on the carrier, and Lin said he is bullish on the company’s profitability this year.
TransAsia reported net income of NT$292.34 million, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.53, for the first three quarters of last year, which represented the highest EPS among the nation’s three listed carriers.
Lin said the company is confident of maintaining its leadership in terms of EPS this year.
The plunge in oil prices over the final months of last year provided a solid stimulus to the nation’s economic activity and boosted sales at all Taiwanese carriers. Last month, TransAsia posted a 20 percent increase in sales from the previous year to NT$1.04 billion, EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空) rose 15.8 percent year-on-year to NT$11.96 billion and China Airlines Ltd’s (CAL, 中華航空) sales rose 8.4 percent to NT$12.98 billion, according to the companies’ Taiwan Stock Exchange filings.
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a recent report that the local airline sector’s earnings this year would likely replicate its strong performance in 2010 thanks to low fuel costs and operational improvements. CAL and EVA posted record-high revenue and earnings in 2010 due to relatively stable oil prices and an increase in the number of cross-strait flights at the time.
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