Korean Air sees 19% profit jump amid cargo, passenger revenue boost

Korean Air significantly bettered its quarterly profit after “successful” passenger capacity expansion, with its cargo operations again providing a significant boost to its earnings.

For the three months ended 30 September, Korean Air reported an operating profit of close to W619 billion ($443 million), a 19% jump compared with the year-ago period.

Revenue for the period stood at W4.2 trillion, up 10% year on year. Korean Air notes both cargo and passenger revenues increased, with cargo increasing 19% compared to last year.

“Despite typical seasonal headwinds, the business leveraged ongoing growth in China’s e-commerce sector to achieve strong results,” says Korean Air on its cargo business. Load factors were up 1.3 percentage points against the same quarter last year.

On the passenger front, the SkyTeam operator saw revenue grow 2% year on year, as a result of what it calls “successful yield management through strategic capacity deployment”.

It attributes strong traffic across its network during the summer peak period, with systemwide RPKs up 5.3% year on year. Korean Air also notes that passenger yields are essentially unchanged from a year earlier, and higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Passenger revenue grew in the Southeast Asia, China and Japan regions, but largely held steady in North America and decreasing in Europe, according to Korean Air data.

The airline remains optimistic of continued demand for the rest of the year. It states: “The passenger business will expand its Southeast Asian network to capture winter demand and implement revenue diversification measures.”

As for cargo, Korean Air says it will “maintain an agile approach” to demand, but will also focus on “maximising opportunities” during the year-end peak.