Tokyo: All Nippon Airways (ANA), headed for a $693 million (Dh2.5 billion) loss in the just-ended financial year, said its profitability has started to bounce back thanks to a recovery in travel, particularly in the high-margin business class segment.
The airline, Japan's second-biggest by revenue, is also considering starting a low-cost carrier, its president said, eyeing growing demand among budget travellers.
ANA, like other global airlines, was smacked down last year by a sputtering economy and outbreak of H1N1 swine flu that led to the industry's sharpest decline in passenger traffic in decades and sent Japan Airlines (JAL) into bankruptcy.
But thanks to a recovery in passenger demand in the past few months, Ana is seeing more than 40 per cent growth in business passenger bookings for May compared with a year earlier and higher sales.
"Passenger bookings are showing double-digit growth for international operations for April and also May," ANA president Shinichiro Ito told Reuters in an interview yesterday.
Stable economy
"A stablised economy is seen creating more business travel demand. Some [passenger] inflow from JAL is also seen," he said.
ANA, the third-biggest airline by market capital in Asia after Air China and Singapore Airlines, surprised investors last month when it forecast a bigger net loss for the year ended March 31 after the weak global economy and swine flu hit its revenues.
