Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) Friday said its first-quarter net loss had narrowed to 60 million dollars compared to last year and predicted a return to net profit for this fiscal year. Japan's number-two carrier said it expected cost cuts and a rise in flight numbers with the opening of a new runway at Tokyo's Haneda later this year would bring a full-year net profit of 57 million dollars.
The 5.25 billion yen first-quarter loss was far below a 29.2 billion yen loss for April-June last year, when the international aviation sector was badly hurt by the global financial crisis. For the year to March 2011, ANA maintained its previous forecast of a 5.0 billion yen net profit and 42.0 billion yen operating profit.
It warned, however, that a "downward economic swing, primarily in Europe, and increasingly competitive markets both inside and outside Japan make business conditions uncertain". In the first quarter, ANA booked an operating profit of 2.98 billion yen, recovering from an operating loss of 42.42 billion yen the previous year, on sales of 306.85 billion yen, up 13.7 percent from a year earlier.
"Despite the temporary impact of the volcanic eruption in Iceland and riots by demonstrators in Thailand, a marked recovery was seen, led by increased business demand" in international flights, ANA said in a statement. The increase in frequency on routes to Shenyang and Ho Chi Minh City as well as an increase in aircraft size on the Honolulu route also contributed to the recovery in the airline's international travel, it said.
Other initiatives such as a promotional campaign to encourage Chinese leisure travel to Japan also boosted revenue. Domestic flights also benefited from an increase in passenger numbers thanks to improved demand for business travel, it said, adding that cost-cutting had also helped shrink the net loss.