Air New Zealand made pre-tax earnings of $299 million in the second half of last year, compared to a loss of $376 million in the equivalent period the year prior, and years of losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It comes on the back of strong summer demand, returning business travel and overseas visitors, and increased cargo revenues.
Operating revenue was $3.1 billion, and after-tax profit was $213m for the six-month period.
“Today’s result reflects an important milestone in our recovery and places us in a strong position to deliver on our strategy,” chairwoman Dame Therese Walsh said.
“When New Zealand’s borders reopened much earlier than expected, our people rose to the occasion, moving swiftly to return aircraft to service, relaunch 29 routes and onboard more than 3000 employees to support the eight million customers we flew between July and December – the busiest period we’ve seen in over three years.
“Despite some turbulence, we’ve stayed focused on getting our customers where they needed to go while keeping our eyes on the future. This result means we can continue to invest in our fleet, our people and our decarbonisation goals, to deliver the customer experience Air New Zealand is world-renown for."
Chief executive Greg Foran said the results came against "a backdrop of significant labour, supply chain and operational pressures that have challenged the airline, and the entire global aviation system".
He acknowledged customer frustration at long customer service wait times, departure times, lost luggage and high ticket prices.
“Air fares are higher than they were pre-Covid. Like many businesses, we’re facing a high inflation environment with increased fuel, labour and other supplier costs at a time when more customers are wanting to travel, and that flows through to ticket prices."
Due to a faster than expected recovery from pandemic disruptions, it was considering paying dividends to shareholders at the end of the financial year.
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