Iceland's PLAY pauses fleet growth to shore up liquidity

PLAY will not be adding any new aircraft in 2024 and terminated its two LOIs for dry leases of aircraft due in 2025, prioritising to shore up its financial liquidity given the current market environment. "The last few months have shown us that external factors are something that we need to take into account and we basically need a buffer for those fluctuations. We will operate ten aircraft this year, and we will optimise the business, really turn the screws and basically get ourselves stabilised after this massive growth period, and we will prepare ourselves for the next phase of growth," CE Birgir Jónsson said during the quarterly investor call. He stressed that 2023 "was looking to deliver very acceptable financial results" before the second half of the year brought about a number of external headwinds, including the Gaza crisis, the spike in oil prices, inflationary pressures on costs, and, locally, volcanic eruptions that scared foreign tourists from visiting Iceland. As a result, the carrier posted a USD$35.2m operating loss in 2023. By pausing the capacity growth for 2024, the airline aims to boost its capital. Jónsson stressed that "in a stable environment", this would not have been necessary. This will be the first year in the Icelandic LCC's history when it will not grow its fleet.<br/>