This file photo, provided by Jeju Air, shows a Jeju Air plane taking off at an airport in South Korea.
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s biggest low-cost carrier, said Tuesday it shifted to a net profit in the fourth quarter as eased COVID-19 restrictions unleashed pent-up travel demand.
The budget carrier swung to a net profit of 17.4 billion won (US$14 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31 from a net loss of 53.9 billion won during the same period of 2021, the company said in a statement.
The turnaround comes in 15 quarters after posting net losses in the past 14 consecutive quarters since the second quarter of 2019.
“The company preemptively resumed flights to major Japanese cities, such as Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, in October when Japan allowed visa-free travel for inbound passengers. The move helped prop up the bottom line,” the statement said.
In October, South Korea removed a COVID-19 PCR test requirement for inbound travelers on the first day of their arrival.
Japan lifted the ban on the number of inbound passengers and resumed visa-free travel for visitors from specific countries, including South Korea, on Oct. 11.
Jeju Air also swung to an operating profit of 18.72 billion won in the fourth quarter from an operating loss of 67.31 billion won a year ago.
“The company has operated the same fleet of 37 B787-800 aircraft to seek cost efficiency. It helped offset the impact of the won’s weakness against the dollar, high jet fuel costs and high interest rates on the earnings results,” the statement said.
Sales more than tripled to 299.43 billion won from 87.91 billion won during the same period.
For the whole of 2022, Jeju Air’s net losses narrowed to 172.42 billion won from 272.28 billion won the previous year.
Operating losses also narrowed to 177.5 billion won last year from 317.16 billion won a year ago. Sales more than doubled to 702.5 billion won from 273.08 billion won.
(Yonhap)
