Bangkok Airways narrows losses in challenging second quarter

Bangkok Airways narrowed its second quarter operating loss to Bt493m ($14.8m) from Bt2.7b a year earlier, as it continued to suffer from the collapse of Thailand’s tourism market amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to the carrier’s earnings release for the three months ended 30 June, total revenue – which includes airports, catering, and other businesses - more than doubled to Bt1.4b, but this is still a fraction of the Bt6.1b revenue recorded during the same period in 2019. Taken separately, airline revenue was Bt212b, up from Bt108b a year earlier. Overall net losses narrowed to Bt686m, compared with Bt2.97b previously. The carrier also cut total Q2 expenses by nearly 50% to Bt1.9b. During the quarter the company operated 1548 flights, twice as many as in the April-June period of 2020, when Thailand was mostly locked down. Still, the country’s third wave of Covid-19 – and more lockdowns – hurt overall demand in the second quarter of 2021. Rising coronavirus cases also caused people to postpone travel during the normally busy Songkran festival in April. Owing to the third wave and travel restrictions, the airline cut frequencies on domestic routes from Bangkok to Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Sukothai, Lampang, Phuket, and Trat.<br/>