China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, expects profits to hit a four-year high this year on the back of an improving air cargo business and declining global crude oil prices.
“We maintain a cautiously optimistic view on global crude oil prices this year,” CAL chairman Sun Hung-hsiang (孫洪祥) told reporters after receiving an award for the nation’s best international carrier from the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Falling crude oil prices have helped reduce CAL’s cost burden, but the positive effect might be partly offset by the recent depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar, Sun said.
In addition to lower fuel costs, improving prospects for the air cargo sector could lift CAL’s business outlook this year, Sun said.
To cope with the growing demand, CAL is considering letting its three idle Boeing Co 747 cargo planes resume operations, he said.
The planes have been in storage in the US since 2012 when cargo demand turned sluggish, he said.
CAL has been trying to return to the earnings peak it hit in 2010, when it made NT$10.62 billion (US$335.06 million).
“I hope the company will see corporate profit [this year] reach the [high] level it hit in 2010,” Sun said.
Sun said the airline has seen satisfactory demand for its passenger and cargo services this quarter.
Commenting on the company’s long-term business development, the carrier and two of its subsidiaries — Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) and Tigerair Taiwan (台灣虎航) — might jointly order 50 new narrow-body planes, 20 of which would be for fleet replacement, Sun said.
The company is still waiting for a good time to place orders, he added.
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