Brazil’s Gol reports Q3 loss, sees important recovery metrics

Brazilian airline Gol lost R1.7b ($301m) in Q3 but sees signs of industry improvement, as leisure passengers return to air travel. Revenue during the period fell 74%, to R875m, executives say during the company’s earnings call on 4 November. But Q3 revenue was more than double Gol’s revenue in the second quarter, a period when airlines drew down schedules in response to suddenly declining travel demand. The low-cost carrier transported 2.6m passengers during the quarter that ended on 30 September, a 73% drop from the same period in 2019, but three times as many as in Q2. “These promising third-quarter results reflect the return of passengers to the skies in Brazil and our confidence in Gol’s competitive advantages,” says chief executive Paulo Kakinoff on 4 November. “The number of customers flying with us tripled in Q3 compared to the previous quarter, which is a remarkable rebound given the challenging market environment.” In July, CFO Richard Lark said the airline was looking at the third quarter as a “bridge to a new normal”. Now, it seems Gol is finding that normal, at least with leisure travellers. “If we look at the [leisure] segment only, we have recovered 100% of pre-Covid demand,” Kakinoff says. “What is missing is the business travellers.”<br/>