TAP reduced its losses by 66.7% in first quarter, to 121.6 million
Portuguese airline TAP lost €121.6 million in the first quarter, a 66.7% improvement over the red numbers in the same period of 2021, after tripling its operating income.
“The activity presented significant improvements compared to the first quarter of 2021 and showed that the company is returning to pre-pandemic 2019 operating levels in a consistent and progressive manner,” the company said in a statement sent to the market Friday.
→ Ryanair believes Portuguese government will sell TAP to Iberia.
Operating revenues tripled compared to the first three months of 2021 – when Portugal was under confinement – to €490.6 million, which is also 80 % of the figure for the same period in 2019, EFE reported.
This growth was driven mainly by passenger revenues: TAP carried 2.1 million travelers, five times more than in the first quarter of last year, and stands at 62 % of pre-pandemic levels.
In addition, between January and March TAP operated three times as many flights as a year earlier, with the reopening of nine destinations that had been temporarily suspended.
Improved revenues from the cargo segment (+45.3%) and maintenance (+37.5%) also contributed.
Operating expenses grew by 46.3%, mainly due to higher fuel and traffic operations costs, while personnel costs fell by 32%, with a reduction of 828 employees compared to the March 2021 headcount.
→ Azores Airlines will fly between Ponta Delgada and Barcelona from June onwards.
In total, the airline currently has 6,698 employees.
EBITDA stood at 58.1 million thanks to “significant progress in the implementation” of the restructuring plan, according to TAP’s CEO, Christine Ourmières-Widener.
The European Commission gave the green light to state aid of around 3.2 billion euros for TAP in exchange for a restructuring plan that requires, among other considerations, the divestment of three companies considered “non-core”.
One of them was the maintenance business in Brazil -with around half a thousand workers-, which the group decided to close gradually instead of trying to sell it, in view of the losses it was accumulating.
The Portuguese state currently holds 100 % of the airline’s capital.
It also owns 72.5% of the TAP group, which includes the maintenance business in Brazil, stakes in ground handling and catering companies and the regional airline Portugália.
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