Korean budget carriers fly high on best Q2 earnings

[Courtesy of JejuAir]

South Korean low-cost carriers (LCCs) have reported best-ever financial results as passenger demand surged to new heights following the reopening of travel. Among the standout performers are JejuAir Co., Jin Air Co., and Air Busan Co., each boasting remarkable earnings for the second quarter of this year.

On Tuesday, JejuAir announced that it achieved a remarkable second-quarter revenue of 369.8 billion won ($280 million), an operating profit of 23.1 billion won, and a net profit of 19.9 billion won. This marks a historical high for the quarter while profitability has continued since the fourth quarter of last year. Compared to a year earlier, JejuAir’s revenue saw a staggering increase of 195.6 percent, and both operating and net profits transitioned into positive figures.

Jin Air is also celebrating an extraordinary performance for the April-June period. The company reported a revenue of 259 billion won, an operating profit of 17.8 billion won, and a net profit of 10.8 billion won. This achievement marks the highest second-quarter performance since the company’s inception in 2008. In a year-over-year comparison, revenue more than doubled from a year ago and increased 21 percent from the pre-pandemic second quarter of 2019. Jin Air has been consistently profitable for three consecutive quarters since achieving its first post-pandemic profitability in the fourth quarter of last year.

Air Busan joined the ranks of successful LCCs in the country by recording a second-quarter revenue of 198.3 billion won, up by 136 percent from a year ago. The company’s operating profit came to 33.9 billion won, with a net profit of 15.5 billion won. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, which marked Air Busan’s previous best revenue, the operating profit jumped by 517 percent, while the net profit surged by 717 percent.

The impressive performance of these LCCs can be attributed to the significant increase in passenger demand on key routes, particularly to Japan and Southeast Asia, since the reopening.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, the number of passengers on Japanese routes of national flag carriers reached 8.47 million for the first half of this year, a significant increase from 180,000 passengers during the same period last year.