The nation’s two largest airlines both reported increased month-on-month revenues for last month amid improving cargo demand.
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), Taiwan’s largest carrier, posted NT$11.45 billion (US$380.83 million) in revenues last month, down 3.87 percent from a year ago, but up 7 percent from a month earlier, the company’s stock exchange filing showed.
WEAK ELECTRONICS
“Although persistently weak sentiment in the electronics sector dragged down demand for the air cargo business this year, the company has been searching for new demand from other sectors,” CAL spokesman Hamilton Liu (劉國芊) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
CAL set up a new cargo center in Japan last month, partly helping the company expand the market for the cargo business, Liu added.
Revenues from the cargo business rose 18.34 percent from a month earlier to NT$4.13 billion for last month, which was still 19.49 percent lower from a year earlier, data showed.
MAJOR DRIVER
With regards the passenger business, Liu said that cross-strait routes remained the major driver for CAL for this year.
The company’s passenger business posted NT$6.85 billion in revenues for last month, up 0.44 percent and 9.42 percent from a month and a year earlier respectively, the company said.
EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空), the nation’s second-largest carrier, posted a similar trend in revenues last month.
It reported NT$8.48 billion in revenues last month, down 2.96 percent from a year earlier, but up 2.66 percent from the previous month, company data showed.
Its cargo business posted NT$3.15 billion in revenues, 9.38 percent higher than last month and 16.89 percent lower than the same month last year, data showed.
Revenues from the passenger business declined slightly, by 0.82 percent from a month ago to NT$4.82 billion last month, but was 10.27 percent higher from a year earlier, the company said.
In the first 10 months, CAL posted NT$110.23 billion in revenues, down 4.57 percent from a year ago, while EVA’s revenues slid 2 percent from the previous year to NT$85.7 billion, data showed.
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