ANA parent swings to quarterly profit on strong passenger travel demand

ANA Holdings rebounded to profitability in its first-quarter earnings, helped by a jump in revenues led by strong passenger travel demand across international, domestic and low-cost networks. For the three months to 30 June, the parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA) was Y43.7b ($313m) in the black at the operating level, reversing the Y1.3b loss in the year-ago period. On a segment basis, the aviation business – comprising mainline operator ANA, low-cost unit Peach and cargo carrier ANA Cargo – also swung to a Y42.3b operating profit. This compares to a Y1.9b loss last year. Group revenue grew nearly 32% year on year to Y461b, with the aviation unit reporting a 33% jump. ANA Holdings notes that its other business units, including travel services and airline-related ancillary business - also saw respectable increases in earnings during the quarter. “Despite concerns about geopolitical risks such as the situation in Ukraine, the airline business continues to see a recovery in passenger demand due to the further relaxation of travel restrictions and disease control measures in countries around the world,” the group states. Within the airline business, it was ANA’s international passenger service that saw the largest jump in revenue - more than doubling year on year - after Japan eased its pandemic travel restrictions late-2022. ANA carried more than 1.6m international passengers during the quarter, more than twice the number reported a year ago, with capacity and traffic similarly doubling year on year. Apart from an influx of travellers coming to Japan with restrictions eased, ANA says the uptick can also be attributed to “proactive initiatives to capture business demand for departures from Japan and demand for transit connections between North America and China”. <br/>