Aegean Airlines, Greece's largest carrier, returned to profit in the second quarter after losses in the same period a year earlier with sales rebounding strongly as passenger traffic recovered from pandemic travel restrictions.
Details
Aegean, a member of the Star Alliance airlines group, reported a net profit of €10.8 million in the April-to-June period compared with a loss of 33.9 million in the second quarter of 2021. Sales jumped 201% to €327.3 million.
Chief executive Dimitris Gerogiannis said the strong desire to travel after two years of COVID-19-related restrictions contributed to a robust rebound in passenger traffic.
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Enjoy full access to Hospitality Ireland, our weekly email news digest, all website and app content, and every digital issue."Despite the cost of fuel we returned to profitability from the second quarter, before the always-stronger third quarter. This continued in the summer months as we boosted load factors to 84% in July to August," Gerogiannis said.
Aegean's performance in the summer months boosts the expected earnings for the year as a whole, he said.
The airline flew 3.3 million passengers in the second quarter, with its load factor - a key industry measure of filled seats - improving to 79.2% from 55.8% in the same period last year.
Cash Reserves
Aegean's cash reserves at the end of June stood at €602.1 million.
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