ANA poised for $960m H1 loss as COVID recovery lags

All Nippon Airways parent ANA Holdings is expected to book an operating loss of roughly 110b yen ($968m) for the April-September half, as Japan's aviation sector struggles to rebound amid the coronavirus pandemic. Though this figure represents an improvement from the 280.9b yen loss a year earlier, the air transport group has been slow to recover compared with its leading US rivals, which returned to profit in the July-September quarter. Revenue for ANA Holdings is believed to total around 430b yen for the April-September quarter. That figure is up roughly 50% on the year, but it remains about 40% of revenue for April-September 2019, before the coronavirus spread worldwide. Japan was under a coronavirus state of emergency for much of the April-September period due to the spread of new, more contagious variants, deterring many would-be travelers. ANA Holdings fell short of expected traffic during its peak season in July-September, with passenger numbers down 15% for domestic flights and 80% for international flights from the same quarter in 2019. In contrast, American Airlines, United and Delta all booked a net profit for July-September as the outsized US domestic travel sector recovers in step with the vaccine rollout. Greater use of vaccine passes also helped revive economic activity there. ANA Holdings' April-September results are due out Friday. Despite forecasting a 3.5b yen net profit for the fiscal year ending March 2022, the company is expected to continue facing headwinds. A full-fledged recovery depends not only on ANA's own efforts to spur demand, but also on potential policy shifts such as greater use of vaccine passes and an easing of quarantine rules that inhibit business trips.<br/>