T’way Air reported a W85.1 billion ($72 million) net loss for the first half of 2020, as Covid-19 all but wiped out its international network in the second quarter.
Sales revenue at the South Korean low-cost carrier declined by 56% to W174 billion for the January to June period, and against operating expenses of W224 billion the carrier posted a W50.7 billion operating loss.
During this period, Southeast Asian routes accounted for 42.4% of sales revenues, followed by 27.5% from domestic flights. Other key markets include Oceania and Japan, making up 16% and 10.6%, respectively.
Results for the April to June period, however, paint a clearer picture of how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted T’way Air.
In the second quarter alone, sales revenue tumbled 86% to W25 billion, of which domestic flights contributed 98.6%, with flights to Europe accounting for the remaining 1.4%.
In an investor presentation, the carrier states it aims to minimise the impact of Covid-19 by focusing on securing demand for domestic flights.
Its own data show that in the second quarter, capacity in its domestic network increased by 38% year-on-year compared with an 8.5% decline in the first quarter. Revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) improved as well, up by 11% year-on-year in the second quarter, versus a 21% decline in the first quarter.
Despite that, second-quarter load factor and yield for T’way’s domestic network were still lower, at 74.4% and W66, respectively, versus 80.4% and W90 in the first quarter. In comparison, load factor was above 93% in the first half of 2019, while yield for the first, weaker quarter that year was W115.
