Philippine Airlines (PAL) reported a total comprehensive loss of P22.02 billion for the first half of 2020, a whopping 632% more than P3.01 billion posted in the same period last year.
The group’s performance during the first semester was severely affected by worldwide travel restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the airline explained in a regulatory disclosure.
Consolidated revenues amounted to P36.82 billion, 54.7% less than the P81.20 billion in the same period in 2019. This was mainly due to the 58.9% drop in passenger revenues following flight cancellations starting March.
All of PAL’s international and domestic flights to and from its hubs in Manila, Cebu, and Clark were suspended through May 31, 2020 due to quarantine restrictions.
Revenues from passenger travel dropped to P29.26 billion in the first six months of 2020 from P71.135 billion in the same period last year.
Cargo revenues decreased 6.3% to P4.217 billion from P4.499 billion. Cargo flights remained operational during the quarantine periods in compliance with government regulations.
Revenues from ancillary services went down 40% to P3.338 billion from P5.542 billion.
Consolidated operating expenses decreased to P52.16 billion, 32.8% lower than last year’s total of P77.62 billion for the same period, mainly due to the significant reduction in flights operated.
PAL expects a US$1 billion (around P49 billion) loss from February until the lifting of quarantine restrictions, company president and chief operating officer Gilbert Santa Maria said earlier.
READ: PAL seen losing revenues of $1B over quarantine period
PAL resumed limited operations on June 1, 2020, with restrictions remaining in place. But with Metro Manila and other nearby provinces reverting to modified enhanced community quarantine from August 4 until 18 due to rising coronavirus infections, all regular scheduled domestic flights to and from Manila during the period had to be cancelled again.
Domestic flights between Clark, Cebu, Davao and cities other than Manila were not affected and remain operational.
International flights to and from Manila also continue to operate, subject to further guidelines from the authorities on quarantine capacity and related arrangements.
In April 2020, PAL’s aircraft delivery schedule was revised to align with the forecast recovery of travel demand. This led to the postponement of aircraft deliveries that were set for 2020 and 2021, with a new delivery schedule of 2022-2025.
