Taiwan's airlines report strong sales in April

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwan's international carriers reported strong sales in April, with China Airlines (CAL) posting a fresh monthly high, and Starlux Airlines and Tigerair Taiwan reporting their highest-ever April revenues.

In a statement released Monday, CAL said it generated NT$20.85 billion (US$664 million) in consolidated sales in April, up 16.49 percent from a year earlier.

CAL said passenger flight sales increased 9.58 percent from a year earlier to NT$11.65 billion in April, with demand boosted by the cherry blossom season in Japan and South Korea as well as the Songkran festival in Southeast Asia.

The carrier said the load factor on flights to Tokyo, Fukuoka, Seoul, and destinations in China and Oceania stayed high, topping 85 percent. Load factor is an industry metric that measures the percentage of passenger capacity used.

CAL said that amid a spike in fuel surcharges and strong shipments of AI-related devices, cargo revenue rose 27.13 percent from a year earlier to NT$7.33 billion in April.

In the first four months of this year, CAL's consolidated sales rose 10.30 percent from a year earlier to NT$77.81 billion.

Meanwhile, Starlux Airlines, Taiwan's newest international carrier, said Monday that it posted NT$4.68 billion in consolidated sales in April, up 30 percent from a year earlier.

Starlux Airlines said sales generated from its passenger flights rose 28 percent from a year earlier to about NT$3.70 billion in April, with demand bolstered by the Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday.

Its April cargo revenue rose 38 percent from a year earlier to NT$520 million, Starlux said, citing robust demand for AI and cloud applications.

Also on Monday, low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan said its consolidated sales rose 27 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.65 billion in April, with the average load factor hitting almost 90 percent, up 5.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

In the first four months of this year, Starlux Airlines and Tigerair Taiwan posted consolidated sales of NT$18.44 billion and NT$7.19 billion, respectively, up 25 percent and 21 percent from a year earlier.

On Friday, EVA Airways reported its April consolidated sales hit a monthly high of NT$21.97 billion, up 18.89 percent from a year earlier. In the first four months of this year, its consolidated sales totaled NT$82.49 billion, up 12.34 percent from a year earlier.