RE:After two years of losses, airlines expect record revenue MONTREAL, April 26, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today reported its first quarter 2022 financial results.
"The substantial year-over-year improvement in Air Canada's first quarter results is clear evidence that a recovery is underway.
"The year began with weakness brought on by the Omicron variant and travel restrictions. However, we quickly rebounded in March with passenger volumes exceeding the strong December levels and passenger ticket sales in March 2022 over 90 per cent of March 2019 levels, a leading indicator to much stronger 2022 second and third quarter results. For the quarter, Air Canada had operating revenues of $2.573 billion, more than triple that of the same quarter in the prior year.
Outlook
For the second quarter of 2022, Air Canada plans to increase its ASM capacity by approximately 414 per cent from the same quarter in 2021 (or about 73 per cent of second quarter 2019 ASM capacity).
Air Canada is reiterating the following guidance for the full year 2022 provided in its news release dated March 30, 2022:
- Air Canada plans to increase its full year 2022 ASM capacity by about 150 per cent from 2021 ASM levels (or about 75 per cent of 2019 ASM levels). Air Canada will continue to adjust capacity and take other measures as required, including to account for passenger demand, public health guidelines, and travel restrictions globally, as well as other factors, such as inflation and other cost pressures.
- For 2022, Air Canada expects adjusted cost per available seat mile (CASM)* to remain about 13 to 15 per cent above 2019 levels.
- For 2022, Air Canada expects an annual EBITDA margin* of about 8 to 11 per cent.