Rebound earns Thai Airways profit of THB3.92 billion in Q3
Thai Airways International (THAI) is back in the black now that tourism has started picking up.
The airline announced on Friday that it made 3.92 billion baht in profit in the third quarter of this year, compared to a 5.31 billion baht loss in the same period last year.
The national carrier said that it and its subsidiaries had recorded a revenue of 32.86 billion baht in the third quarter, up 582% year on year.
Revenue from passengers and cargo stood at 30.89 billion baht thanks to more frequent flights in the first half of the year to destinations, including London, Frankfurt, Chennai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Dhaka, Denpasar, Taipei, Singapore, Copenhagen, Munich and Zurich.
THAI has also reopened routes that were previously closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic such as Penang, Tokyo (Haneda) and Brussels. The airline boasted an average load factor of 77 per cent in the third quarter of this year, compared to 9.9 per cent in the same period last year.
The total expenses for THAI and its subsidiaries came in at 28.94 billion baht, up 186% from the previous year due to rising operational costs. The price of fuel has risen by 80% compared to the previous year and is responsible for 44 per cent of the operational cost, THAI said.
As of September 30, THAI and its subsidiaries had total assets of 183.29 billion baht, up by 22.07 billion baht from December 31, 2021. Total liabilities came in at 265.79 billion baht, up by 33.32 billion baht on December 31, 2021.
The shareholders’ equity, meanwhile, is in the deficit by 82.50 billion baht.
However, thanks to fast-growing tickets sales and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) at over 2 billion baht per month, the company’s cash balance has risen steadily from 6.01 billion baht in March to 13.47 billion baht in June and 23.3 billion baht in September.
In October alone, THAI recorded an average 80.4% load factor, averaging 21,557 foreign passengers per day, which accounts for 30 per cent of total foreign arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The tally includes Thai Smile Airways passengers.
