PAL profit balloons 4,424% in 2015 on strong passenger growth

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Photo from PAL Facebook page
Photo from PAL Facebook page
Photo from PAL Facebook page

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) reported a net income of P5.870 billion in 2015, a 4,424.7% jump compared with the P129.740 million it earned in 2014.

Revenue likewise improved to P108.064 billion, 7% higher than last year’s figure of P100.954 billion, PAL disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Total comprehensive income was P6.460 billion, a 721% surge from P786.8 million earned in 2014. The positive performance came after the carrier went in the red in 2013.

PAL traced the growth mainly to higher passenger revenues brought about by volume growth in passengers carried.

The airline carried 11.9 million passengers in 2015 compared with 9.6 million in 2014, pushing revenues up 10% to P90.084 billion from P81.752 billion in 2014.

Last year, PAL introduced new flights to various overseas destinations such as New York, Dubai, New Zealand, Port Moresby, and to new domestic stations such as Tablas from Manila and points originating from Cebu.

Revenues from its cargo business, however, declined 8.2% to P7.198 billion from P7.842 billion in the previous year.

According to PAL, 39.4% of its revenue in 2015 came from its Asia and Australia operations, followed by the Transpacific with 28.6%, Middle East with 9.4%, and Europe with 2.1%. Its domestic operations, meanwhile, accounted for 20.5% of the total revenue.

PAL’s route network currently covers 43 international and 30 domestic destinations.

In celebration of its 75th anniversary in 2016 and as part of its route expansion plan, PAL earlier said it was assessing four new destinations in Europe—Paris, France; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Hamburg, Germany; and Rome, Italy.

For its U.S. network expansion, PAL has already begun nonstop flights thrice a week between Cebu and Los Angeles, in addition to its Manila to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, and Guam services.

The airline also launched five flights a week from Manila to Doha, Qatar last March 28 as part of an ongoing Middle East route expansion. Other destinations in the Middle East include Riyadh, Dubai, Dammam, Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi.

To further increase its presence in the Oceania Region, the flag carrier will open two flights weekly on June 15 to Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands.

Moreover, the airline will open services between Taipei and Kansai on June 25 (daily flights) and Abu Dhabi and Doha on March 28 (five flights weekly). Last January, the airline opened four connections weekly between Dubai and Kuwait as well as three connections weekly between Dubai and Jeddah.

Due to increased demand on certain routes, PAL also hiked its weekly frequencies to Riyadh from six every week to seven flights weekly; to Darwin and Brisbane from three to four; to Canton from four to five; to London from five to six (starting June 4) and from six to seven (June 28); to Taipei from seven to 11 (June 25); to Kansai from seven to 14 (June 25); and to Peking from four to eight (July 1).

PAL is adding six Airbus A350-900s to its fleet, bringing to 75 its total number of aircraft. The carrier is scheduled to take delivery of five A321s and two B777s this year, and two A321s in 2017. PAL’s current fleet includes B777s, A340s, A330s, A321s, and A320s.

In February 2016, PAL signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire six Airbus 350-900 airplanes with the option for another six airplanes for delivery from 2018 to 2019.