Singapore Airlines Cargo (SIA Cargo) reported halving its operating loss in the first quarter of its current fiscal year (April-June 2015) compared to the same period last year.
In a written release, parent company SIA said its cargo unit registered an operating loss of SGD9 million (US$6.5 million) in the first quarter of 2015-2016 compared to the SGD18 million loss it suffered in the same period the preceding year.
Cargo revenue fell, stemming from a 7.6% reduction in cargo yield but this was offset by the fall in expenditure, mainly from lower fuel costs, it added.
Freight carriage in load tonne-kilometers was marginally higher by 0.4%, although lagging the 2.6% increase in capacity. Load factor fell 1.3 percentage points to 61.1%.
The size of SIA Cargo’s fleet, comprised of eight 747-400 freighters, remained unchanged in the first quarter.
Looking ahead the company said it does not expect to see an upturn in air cargo yields as industry overcapacity persists.
“SIA Cargo will continue to manage capacity carefully, while actively pursuing opportunities in special product segments to stimulate yields,” it added.
JAL grows revenue
On the other hand, Japan Airlines (JAL) said it chalked up revenue growth in its international cargo operations in the first quarter of its fiscal year 2015 from April 1 to June 30.
“In international cargo operations, as special shipments from Japan to North America owing to the U.S. west coast port strike showed signs of settling down, we improved revenue management to efficiently capture transit shipments in order to steadily secure shipments and maximize revenues,” it said in a release.
As a result, the volume of international cargo in revenue cargo ton kilometers in the first quarter increased by 9.4% year-on-year, and international cargo revenue increased by 5.1% to JPY14.7 billion (US$118.5 million).
Photo: Deekay744
