Air China has reported a 4.8 billion yuan (US$680 million) net loss for the three months to March 31, 2020, a sharp turnaround from a net profit of 2.7 billion yuan in the prior corresponding period. Read More »
Revenue tumbled 47%, to 17.3 billion yuan. Air China said in its quarterly financial results, published on April 30, the airline group would focus on controlling costs, deploying passenger aircraft on cargo missions and enhancing coordination among members of the airline group to help cope with the challenges of the business.
China Southern Airlines (CSA) has suffered a net loss of 5.3 billion yuan (US$750 million) for the first quarter of calendar 2020, slumping into the red from net profit of 2.7 billion yuan in the prior year. Revenue fell 44%, to 21.1 billion yuan. The airline said in its first quarter results statement on April 30 that "in view of the uncertainty of the development and severe impact of COVID-19 on the civil aviation industry, it is expected the group’s operating results in the first half of 2020 will be adversely affected".
China Eastern Airlines (CEA) posted a net loss of 3.9 billion yuan (US$552 million) for the three months to March 31, 2020, a near six billion yuan deterioration from a net profit of 1.9 billion in the prior corresponding quarter. Revenue sank 48.6%, to 15.5 billion yuan. The airline said in its April 30 results statement the quarterly loss was "mainly due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic worldwide since the beginning of 2020". It added it expected significant uncertainties in the period ahead and an adverse impact on the first half financial performance.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has described the effect of the coronavirus pandemic as "unforeseeable at this moment", with the company declining to offer financial guidance for the year ahead after reporting net profit for the 12 months to March 31, 2020 fell 64.6% 53.4 billion yen (US$ 500 million). Revenue dropped 5.1%, to 1.49 trillion yen, JAL said in its full year financial results published on April 30.
JAL president and representative director, Yuji Akasaka, apologised to shareholders for not paying a year-end dividend. He said the impact of the coronavirus was "much more than we have ever experienced", with the estimated financial damage expected "severe to say the least".
In addition to the apology, contained in a letter to shareholders, Akasaka expressed optimism about the airline's future. The carrier's business structure would not fundamentally change when the fight against COVID-19 ended, he said, and added JAL would “become a profitable company again".
Administrators for Virgin Australia (VA) said on April 30, after the first meeting of creditors, that 20 parties had expressed an interest in buying the financially stricken airline. Of those, eight parties had signed non-disclosure agreements and negotiations were continuing with 12 others, Deloitte said in a statement.
Deloitte said the first meeting of creditors had agreed to form a committee of inspection that included representatives from the various creditor groups. Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said in a statement indicative offers were due in mid-May, with binding offers to be submitted in June. He hoped to have the sale of the airline signed by the end of that month.
Airbus has outlined a modification package for its A330, A340 and A350 wide-body aircraft. It accommodates cargo pallets on the passenger deck of the aircraft after the removal of economy class seats, the OEM said in a service bulletin.
The temporary solution, being certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), would allow a typical A350 to carry an additional 7.8 tonnes of freight on top of normally carried belly cargo.
As an indication of the level of interest for the concept, Airbus vice president of flight operations support, Captain Yann Lardet, said in a conference call with reporters on April 30 that 1,200 people from 240 airlines attended a webinar explaining the cargo solution in early April, some four times the usual audience for these presentations.
