Japan’s ANA posts $3.7-billion loss due to pandemic

Tokyo, Apr 30 (EFE).- Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways Friday posted a record net loss of more than 405 billion yen ($3.7 billion) for the pandemic-struck financial year that ended on Mar.31.

But parent group of the airliner, ANA Holdings, predicted that it would return to profitability in fiscal 2021 until Mar.31, 2022.

For the last fiscal year, ANA said it suffered an operating loss of 464.77 billion yen as sales plunged over 62 percent to 728.68 billion yen.

The company had recorded a net profit of 27.6 billion yen and an operating profit of 60.8 billion yen in fiscal 2019.

“The global airline industry has faced an unprecedented contraction as a result of diminished passenger demand caused by immigration restrictions and stay-at-home orders in many countries,” the company said in a statement.

The statement said the domestic passenger services were heavily affected by Covid-19, with passenger numbers and revenue decreasing significantly compared to the same period in the previous year.

It said the passenger traffic on domestic sectors fell 70.5 percent last year, to 12.66 million passengers.

The number of international passengers in Japan dipped by 95.5 percent to 427,000.

The Japanese government has implemented severe restrictions on the entry of foreign travelers.

“We faced numerous and complex challenges this year, it is evident that ANA HD took the necessary steps to strengthen operations and that we are on track for recovery,” Chief Financial Officer Ichiro Fukuzawa said.

The CFO said the company saw “the light at the end of the tunnel” and was in a position to meet rising demand by providing safe, reliable, and convenient travel options.

“We are forecasting a return to profit for the fiscal year of 2021, and are confident that the actions we took during this past year will guide us.” EFE

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