Icelandair reports Max grounding's second-quarter impact

Icelandair remained loss-making in Q2, as the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max fleet took a $50m toll on the carrier's operating result. EBIT was negative to the tune of $24m in the quarter, widening a $20m reverse in the same period last year. The net loss rose from $26m to $34m. Passenger numbers were up 16%, on capacity lifted 8%, and the load factor improved by 4.7 percentage points to 85%. The effective fuel price was 5% higher than in the same period last year, notes the carrier. It said aviation costs excluding fuel were cut by 5% and other expenses by 17%. It gave a figure of 72% for on-time arrivals in H1, versus 60% in the same period of last year, and said it expects to cut last year's disruption costs, which totalled $45m, by "at least 40%" this year. The H1 figure was reduced by $7m. Across the full year, Icelandair expects the Max suspension to have a $140m impact on operating profit. The airline listed a range of ways in which the grounding has affected revenues and costs. Cited in the revenue category are the reaccommodation and "re-protection" of passengers, lost network connections, lost ancillary revenues and yields, lower net promoter scores (NPS), and "imbalance in the route network".<br/>