ANA books record net loss in April-December 2020 as pandemic hits demand
Source: Xinhua | 2021-01-30
ANA Holdings Inc. said on Friday that in the April to December period of 2020 it booked a record net loss of 309.58 billion yen (2.95 billion U.S. dollars), as the Japanese carrier has seen domestic and global demand battered by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The downside effects of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the carrier's profits drastically go down amid slumping patronage and extensive travel bans.
In the April to December period, ANA booked an operating loss of 362.41 billion yen (3.46 billion U.S. dollars), as revenue plummeted 66.7 percent to 527.61 billion yen (5.04 billion U.S. dollars).
For the current business year through March, the Japanese carrier maintained its earnings outlook, projecting a record net loss of 510 billion yen (4.87 billion U.S. dollars) based on revenue of 740 billion yen (7.07 billion U.S. dollars).
Revenue from international flights tumbled 93.6 percent from a year ago to 32.3 billion yen (308 million U.S. dollars), ANA said, as passengers dropped by 95.9 percent to around 321,000 in the nine-month period, owing largely to Japan implementing wide-reaching entry bans to the country amid the pandemic.
Overall, ANA said that sales from flights dropped by 71.7 percent to 156.3 billion yen (1.49 billion U.S. dollars), with passenger numbers declining 71.5 percent to 9.91 million, despite the state-backed "Go To Travel" campaign aimed at boosting domestic travel.
Launched in July last year, the state subsidized travel program was suspended in late December owing to the virus' resurgence.
ANA announced on Tuesday that it will suspend services on 16 international routes from late March, as demand continues to slump.
From March 28 through Oct. 30, the services to be halted will include those from Narita international Airport near Tokyo to New York, as well as flights to San Francisco.
ANA also said that flights between Tokyo's Haneda airport and Moscow will be halted and those to Bangkok, Los Angeles and Sydney will be reduced.
ANA has now slashed 80 percent of its international flights from its initial plan, and it has said that its modus operandi looking ahead will remain flexible enough to cater to shifts in the pandemic and passenger demand.
Cost-cutting initiatives will also include the early retirement of its fleet of Boeing 777s in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient Boeing 787s, ANA said.
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