Taiwan's 3 Main Airlines See Mixed Performance in Nov. 2013

With the freight market simmering but passenger traffic declining for seasonal factors, Taiwan's three main airlines, China Airlines Ltd., EVA Airways Corp. and TransAsia Airways Corp., reported mixed performance for November 2013.

China Airlines, the island's largest carrier by fleet size, scored revenue of NT$11.858 billion in the month, up 6.3% year-on-year (YoY) or 0.3% month-on-month (MoM), NT$4.128 billion, equivalent to nearly 35% of the total, generated by its freight business, 13.2% more than a month earlier or 18.7% than a year ago.

With tourism entering its low season, the company's passenger incomes dipped 6.2% MoM to NT$7.416 billion in November, but still represented a 5.5% rise compared to a year earlier, according to the latest financial statement.

For the past 11 months, China Airlines totally posted  NT$128.271 billion in cumulative revenue, edging up 0.07% YoY.

Meanwhile, EVA Airways posted revenue of NT$10.265 billion in November, growing 4.39% YoY but dropping 6.2% MoM, of which NT$2.973 billion was generated from freight for a 5.54% monthly growth. Also due to low season, the carrier's air passenger incomes dived 5.8% MoM but soared 11.1% YoY.

EVA Airways logged a robust growth of 3.58% in its cumulative revenue of NT$113.834 billion for the first 11 months of 2013.

Concentrating on passenger traffic, TransAsia Airways saw  November revenue sag 7.4% MoM but shoot up 19.2% YoY to NT$975 million, adding to January-November revenue of NT$11.264 billion, surging 22.89% yearly thanks partly to fleet expansion over the past two years, and partly to new overseas routes it has opened. (SC)