Taiwan's Top-3 Airlines See May Revenues Take Off

Apparently immune to seasonal factors, Taiwan's top-3 airlines, China Airlines Ltd., EVA Airways Corp. and Transasia Airways Corp., all flew high with revenue jumps in May.

EVA Airways reported the strongest monthly growth of 7.8% in revenue of NT$10.662 billion (US$355.4 million) in the month.

To maintain growth momentum in the rest of this year, the airline has increased flights from Taiwan to North America since June, to prepare for the upcoming high season during the summer. Additionally, the firm has also bought seven Boeing B777-300ER airplanes, and has just struck a deal with the U.S. airplane leasing company, Air Lease Corporation, to lease two more such jets. All these long-range, wide-body jet airliners will continually become operational this year through 2016.

Meanwhile, China Airlines raked in NT$12.402 billion (US$413.4 million) in revenue in May, up 12.1% year-on-year (YoY) or 0.3% month-on-month (MoM) to beat a 9-month high.

To ride the upcoming summer vacation boom, Taiwan's largest airline will launch new flights to China's Changchu, Xuzhou, Hefei and Yantai at once in July, to drive revenue in the third quarter of this year.

Fueled by newly increased flights, Transasia finished May with revenue of NT$1.176 billion (US$39.2 million), up 26.6% YoY, or 3.2% MoM, and a 10-month high.

Optimistic about growth potential of air travel from Taiwan's central and southern region to China, the company has actively promoted  flights between Taichung, a metropolis in  central Taiwan, and Yichang and Zhangjiajie City in China since May, and will launch a new one from Kaohsiung to Lanzhou in late June. (SC)

Revenue of Taiwan's Top-3 Airlines in May 2014
Company	Revenue	MoM Growth Rate	YoY Growth Rate	Note
China Airlines Ltd.	NT$12.402 Bn.	0.3%	12.1%	A 9-month High
EVA Airways Corp.	NT$16.662 Bn.	7.8%	7.3%	Second-highest since the year
Transasia Airways Corp.	NT$1.176 Bn.	3.2%	26.6%	A 10-month High

Source: Market Observation Post System