PAL posts positive operating income

HILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) Inc. on Friday announced an operating income of $297.2 MILLION FOR 2022, ITS fiRST POSITIVE FULL-YEAR result since 2019.

The Lucio Tan-led airline registered an operating loss of $98.1 million in 2021 due to the travel restrictions and operating environment prevailing that year.

Total comprehensive income for last year, meanwhile, amounted to $196.9 million — much lower compared to the $1.21 billion in 2022 that included a $1.44-billion net gain from debt restructuring.

PAL’s positive performance was consistent for all four quarters as a result of rising demand in air travel following the reopening of borders in most countries.

“We are very grateful for the support of our customers that has enabled us to achieve this positive result amid a challenging year,” PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Stanley Ng said in a statement.

“Philippine Airlines continues to be on a journey of recovery and renewal, and we will make good use of our resources to improve our services for the benefit of our valued customers,” he added.

“We are even more determined to upgrade our fleet, build more connections to key markets, and offer improved products and services,” Ng continued.

PAL achieved an average passenger load factor of 72 percent in 2022, nearly 30 percentage points higher than the previous year’s 42.6 percent load factor.

The carrier flew a total of 9.3 million passengers in 2022, comprising the operations of both the PAL mainline network as well as PAL Express. This was 214 percent up from the 2021 level.

Total operating expenses for 2022 reached $2.27 billion, an increase of $960.3 million, compared to 2021’s $1.31 billion.

PAL continued to expand its route network in 2022, adding flights to most of its overseas destinations in North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East, while pioneering economyboosting and tourism-generating domestic routes such as CebuBaguio, Cebu-Borongan and Cotabato-Tawi-Tawi.

Listed parent firm PAL Holdings Inc.’s share price was unchanged at P5.41 on Friday amid a 2.18-percent plunge for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.