Gol sees bookings rise as Covid cases recede

Brazilian airline Gol expects sales to pick up as a second wave of coronavirus infections recedes, prompting customers to book more trips. Normalisation of demand is within reach despite a 50% year-on-year decline in sales during the first three months of the year, executives say during the Sao Paulo-headquartered company’s first-quarter earnings call on 29 April. The company reports Q1 revenue of R$1.6b ($299m), down from R$3.1b a year ago. Its quarterly loss was R$892m. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, the company has maintained the necessary agility to adjust its supply according to fluctuations in demand, and it remains to be a differentiator for us,” says Gol CE Paulo Kakinoff. As cases decline, “GOL has seen a corresponding resumption in ticket sales over the last few weeks”. A sharp reduction in demand was precipitated by a spike in Covid-19 cases. “Pressure on the hospital network… impacted the increase in the number of cancellations and no-shows”, the carrier says.<br/>