Grupo Aeromexico, the parent company of Mexico’s legacy carrier, says the airline continued steadily recovering from the coronavirus crisis during the second quarter of the year, as both domestic and international travel contributed to narrowing its financial loss.
“Aeromexico has been successful in managing its network on a flight-by-flight basis ensuring that its operations are cash generative,” the company says on 20 July.
In the second quarter of 2021, total revenue at the Mexico City-based airline came in at Ps10 billion ($496 million), up from Ps2.6 billion during the same quarter in 2020. Still, that’s down 41% from Ps16.8 billion in the same three months of 2019, the carrier says.
The company’s net loss for the April to June period was Ps.2.8 billion, compared to Ps27.4 billion during the same quarter a year earlier, just as the global health crisis was ravaging the industry. While an improvement, the 2021 loss is still more than one-and-a-half times the Ps1.1 billion loss reported in the second quarter of 2019.
The airline’s capacity (measured in available seat kilometres - ASKs) during the period increased 9% from the first quarter of the year, “primarily driven by a sequential recovery in domestic and international markets”.
That said, ASKs were 39.2% lower than the same period in 2019 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
FLEET ADDITIONS
Aeromexico had 118 operating aircraft at the end of June, 12 more than it had at the end of the first quarter, the airline says. During the quarter, the airline took delivery of four Boeing 737-800s, four 737 Max 8s and four 737 Max 9s.
Earlier in the day, the Mexican airline announced it would be taking 12 new Boeing 737 Max aircraft in October, in addition to the 28 aircraft - 24 Max and four 787-9 Dreamliners - it had announced earlier this year.
“The addition of these new airframes improves the safety and efficiency of our fleet,” the carrier says. “We will be able to reinforce connectivity between our major operation hubs and simultaneously confirm our commitment to the environment. These advanced fuel-efficient aircraft allow us to continue to offer passengers our world-class flight experience.”
In June 2020, Aeromexico filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a US court. The company said at the time that the process would allow it to “strengthen its financial position and liquidity, protect and preserve its operations and assets, and implement necessary operational changes to address the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic”.
It was the third Latin American carrier to seek protection from creditors as the pandemic decimated the air transport industry during the first half of the year. Chile’s LATAM Airlines and Colombia’s Avianca had filed for bankruptcy in May after liquidity crises forced them to restructure debt.
In June, the court approved a 75-day extension period to propose a plan of reorganisation.
“The court approved the extension because, among other reasons, of the good progress the Company has made with its restructuring,” Aeromexico says.
