Cargo proves strong as Icelandair awaits passenger traffic recovery

Icelandair Group has highlighted cargo activity as a strong performance area in the first quarter, a period in which the company generated a net loss of just over $30m. Revenues for the first three months of the year reached $57.3m, a decline of 73%, but the company points out that cargo revenues increased by 64%. Freight volumes, it adds, exceeded those from prior to the pandemic. But international route bookings for the second quarter are “still weak”, it says, although it remains confident that a “moderate” ramp-up will emerge over the period. It expects further capacity increases from the third quarter. “Given the current booking status, the outlook for the [fourth] is good,” it adds. Icelandair Group states that leasing and charter operations – derived from its Loftleidir division – provided “important” revenue streams during the first three months. It puts overall liquidity at just under $282m.<br/>