Air New Zealand has used an annoucement of a 300 per cent surge in pretax profits for the first half of the current financial year to reveal plans to lease two additional Boeing 777-300ERs for introduction into service in 2014.
The airline’s normalised profit before tax for the half was NZ$139 million, up from NZ$33 million in the same half last financial year. Statutory next proft after tax rose from NZ$62 million to NZ$100 million. Revenue was up 3.4 per cent to NZ$2.4 billion.
“This is the best interim profit result for five years. The substantial change program the airline has been implementing has positioned the business for consistent growth and sustainable profitability over the coming years,” chairman John Palmer said.
Air New Zealand says that its international long haul operations have become profitable for the first time since the global financial crisis. “A key driver in achieving this turnaround has been getting our network right and improving our sales execution,” said CEO Christopher Luxon.
