China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday.
The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion.
Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September period.
CAL said cargo service prices continued to rise last month and are expected to keep rising in the fourth quarter as the year-end shopping season approaches.
In addition, global demand for artificial intelligence servers, chips and semiconductor equipment is expected to stay strong this quarter to further push up sales from its cargo services, it said.
In terms of passenger flights, CAL said it will raise the number of weekly flights between Taipei and Tokyo’s Narita Airport to four starting from Oct. 26 to boost ticket sales, while the autumn foliage season in Japan and South Korea is expected to bring the load factor — an industry metric that measures percentage of passenger capacity used — of flights to Tokyo and Seoul to around 90 percent this month.
CAL added the factor of flights to destinations in Australia are expected to top 90 percent this month as demand remains high and stable.
Last week, EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) said it posted NT$15.62 billion in sales for last month, down 10 percent from a year earlier.
The carrier said the decline came as Ghost Month, which was from Aug. 23 to Sept. 21 this year, affected consumer appetite to take overseas trips, while demand also fell after the summer vacation ended.
Last month, sales posted by its passenger flights totaled NT$9.32 billion and revenue generated by cargo services hit NT$4.33 billion, it said.
In the first nine months of the year, cumulative sales fell 1.07 percent from a year earlier to NT $162.69 billion, it added.
EVA Airways said it remains upbeat about this month as the month has three national holidays that are likely to boost travel demand. In addition, the carrier will launch flights to Busan, South Korea, later this month and the new route is expected to generate more sales in the month as well as the fourth quarter.
The carrier said the fourth quarter is peak season for cargo services so sales are also likely to move higher.
Meanwhile, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) posted NT$2.95 billion in sales last month, up 5 percent from a year earlier after revenue from cargo services rose 26 percent from a year earlier to NT$444 million.
Starlux Airlines said it will introduce a new winter flight schedule at the end of this month by providing more flights in the region, resuming flights to Manila on Dec. 16 and launching flights to Phoenix, Arizona, on Jan. 15 next year, further boosting sales.
During the January-September period, Starlux Airlines posted NT$32.7 billion in cumulative sales, up 26 percent from a year earlier.
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