Aegean Airlines 2018 net profit up 13% on traffic growth

Greek carrier Aegean Airlines reported a net profit of E67.9m for 2018, up 13% from E60.4m in the previous year. Consolidated revenue was up 5% year-over-year (YOY) to E1.19b, compared to E1.13b in 2017. Pre-tax earnings rose 15% YOY to E98.6m. Aegean CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis said the airline managed to improve profitability, as well as its commercial performance in the international network, despite increased competition and higher fuel costs. “The gradual recognition of the quality of our services and our … consistent improvement support our positive trends,” he said. “At the same time, we have committed to significant investments which will allow us to improve our product and cost competitiveness and further develop the skills of our people.” Aegean and its subsidiary Olympic Air carried 14m passengers in 2018, up 6 % YOY. ASKs rose 4% to 17.24b, primarily because of the greater use jet aircraft instead of turboprops. Traffic increased 6% to 14.4b RPKs, and load factor rose 0.7 points to 83.9%. International passenger traffic rose 7% YOY to 7.8m and domestic traffic was up 4% to 6.1m. A key driver for the traffic gains was the growth in incoming tourist flow, the carrier said.<br/>