Air Pacific Ltd trading as Fiji Airways Group has announced its highest ever operating profits, banking $60.8m for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2014.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nalin Patel, said the airline and its consolidated group (Fiji Airways Group) operating profits was “record breaking” with Fiji Airways reported another record breaking year in terms of revenue and passenger numbers.
Fiji Airways reported an after tax profit of $55.6m, on a net basis, and the Group as a whole reported an after tax profit of $52.9m, a result that is double the best operating profit achieved in the history back in 2005.
“We’re obviously delighted with this performance, which has been achieved through the hard work of the entire team,” Patel commented.
“All of the key business and financial metrics outperformed the previous financial year, with passenger numbers, load factor and average fares all improving significantly, coupled with growth in line with productivity levels of the best global airlines,” Patel added.
In 2014, Fiji Airways Group earned $770m revenue and flew 1,244,596 passengers. Load factor this reporting period grew by 8.2% to 83% and average fare increased by 2.7%.
Patel credited all the hard-working and dedicated staff for the company’s success, adding the importance of sharing this with its staff.
Outgoing Managing Director, Stefan Pichler, said all international markets performed strongly, with ocore markets in New Zealand and Australia delivering strong returns, coupled with demand growth from Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
Fiji Link’s regional and domestic services also contributed positively to the Group performance.
Pichler added the airline is already prepared for a busy year ahead, with fleet expansion, the launch of new routes (Nadi-Wellington) and increased frequencies to key destinations. It is also assessing a new long-haul route in Asia.
