This file photo provided by Korean Air shows a B787-9 passenger jet taking off from Incheon International Airport in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s national flag carrier, said Thursday its third-quarter net profit more than tripled on recovering travel demand following eased antivirus curbs.
Net income for the three months that ended in September amounted to 431.4 billion won (US$302.6 million), up from 134 billion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit nearly doubled to 839.2 billion won from 438.6 billion won a year ago. Sales jumped 65 percent on-year to 3.7 trillion won from 2.2 trillion won.
The rise in earnings stemmed from a spike in revenue from passenger and cargo businesses as most antivirus curbs have been lifted.
Sales in the passenger business jumped more than four times to 1.4 trillion won from 331.9 billion won a year earlier. Third-quarter sales in the cargo division rose 12.5 percent on-year to 1.8 trillion won from 1.6 trillion won.
“Demand for overseas travel has been on a sharp rise as mandatory quarantine for international arrivals have been removed at home and abroad,” Korean Air said in a statement.
“Passenger traffic soared 67 percent on-quarter thanks to a resumption of major air travel routes to Europe and Southeast Asia.”
The airline has resumed passenger flights to Las Vegas, Milan, Barcelona, Rome, Da Nang and Bali over the July-September period.
Korean Air said a global economic slowdown is expected to drag down cargo demand in the fourth quarter, but demand for overseas travel will likely increase.
“We will swiftly cope with possible external uncertainties like a hike in oil prices and volatile exchange rates,” it said.
Shares of Korean Air decreased 0.22 percent to 22,800 won on the main bourse. The earnings report was released after the market closed.
(Yonhap)
