March 29, 2005
China Airlines and EVA Airways racked up some impressive financial figures in 2004 due to increasing passenger and cargo volumes that have come along with the economic recovery. These two Taiwanese aircarriers are replacing old aircraft this year and expect their fortunes to continue to rise. China Air even forecasts its revenues will exceed
NTD 100 billion for the first time this year.
Despite sky-high oil prices last year, China Airlines achieved
NTD 96.1 billion in revenues and
NTD 4.18 billion in after-tax profits. This strong performance, the airline's best ever, is attributed to its strict cost control efforts and the opening of new routes to Guam and Houston, Texas.
China Airlines predicts that its passenger volume will increase 12.7% and its cargo volume will grow by 8.4% this year. It further anticipates
NTD 105 billion in revenues and
NTD 4.4 billion in after-tax profits for this year.
EVA Airways reports revenues of
NTD 82.6 billion, before-tax profits of
NTD 3.6 billion and after-tax profits of
NTD 3.2 billion for 2004, all record highs for the airline. It says its revenues will definitely continue to grow this year and that its profits will keep up with last year's strong performance at least.
China Air will be taking delivery of ten new aircraft this year. These include five Airbus A330-300, two Boeing 747-700 and three Boeing 747-400F. Seven old airplanes will leave the China Air fleet. Once the new planes are in service, the aircarrier will be in possession of a total of 66 aircraft with an average age of 5.1 years.
China Airline will be opening new passenger routes to Vienna, Austria, and Chiang Mai, Thailand, this year. This will bring the total number of destinations served by China Air's passenger and cargo planes to fifty. The aircarrier also plans to open a new cargo route to Nagoya, Japan.
(United Daily News)
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