Holidays boost Taiwan carriers' sales to hit October high

Taipei, Nov. 11 (CNA) Taiwan's four major international carriers -- China Airlines (CAL), EVA Airways (EVA Air), Starlux Airlines and Tigerair Taiwan -- all reported record sales for October, helped by three holiday weekends during the month.

CAL said its consolidated sales for October rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$18.11 billion (US$584 million), benefiting from an increase in passenger demand helped by the holidays.

In October, there were three long weekends: the Oct. 4-6 Mid-Autumn Festival weekend, the Oct. 10-12 National Day weekend and the Oct. 25-26 Taiwan Restoration Day weekend.

CAL said sales generated from its passenger flights rose 8.98 percent from a year earlier to NT$10.99 billion, also an October high, with demand for flights to Australia particularly strong.

Its load factor -- an industry metric that measures percentage of passenger capacity used -- on Australia routes topped 90 percent in October.

Demand for travel to Japan and South Korea was also strong in October and growth is expected to continue in November as about 90 percent of available seats to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul and Busan are booked, according to the airline's estimate.

With Taiwan's exports, paced by AI servers and other electronic items, continuing to boom in October, CAL's cargo revenue also rose 3.32 percent from a year earlier to NT$5.55 billion during the month.

CAL said the fourth quarter is a traditional peak season for cargo services, meaning that revenue growth is expected to continue.

EVA Air said its consolidated sales rose 3.66 percent year-over-year in October to NT$18.90 billion, with revenue from passenger flights and cargo services hitting NT$11.95 billion and NT$4.70 billion, respectively.

EVA Air said the three holiday weekends lifted its passenger sales as its load factor to destinations in Europe, in particular, nearly hit 90 percent in October.

At the same time, AI server and semiconductor shipments gave a boost to its cargo service revenue during the month.

Meanwhile, Starlux Airlines, the newest international carrier in Taiwan, said its consolidated sales in October rose 19 percent from a year earlier to about NT$3.70 billion.

Tigerair Taiwan, the only low-cost carrier in Taiwan, posted consolidated sales of NT$1.57 billion in October, up 20.3 percent from a year earlier as its average load factor surpassed 86 percent.