More good financial news for Air Canada as the airline reported its 2023 first quarter results 12MAY.
Passenger revenues in Q1 of 2023 more than doubled that of the same quarter in 2022 and hit a first quarter record of almost $4.1 billion, the company reported, based on 53 per cent greater capacity. More than half of the increase came from international markets.
Air Canada also announced record Q1 operating revenues: $4.887 billion, 90 per cent higher than first quarter 2022 and about 10 per cent higher than first quarter 2019.
"Our first quarter financial results exceeded both internal and external expectations,” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada, in a statement released by the company.
“Air Canada's impressive first quarter performance reflects the strength of our brand, the very strong demand environment across all markets and the effective execution of our strategic plan,” he said.
The airline still incurred an operating loss in Q1 of $17 million, but that’s a big improvement over an operating loss in the same quarter last year of $550 million.
Air Canada Vacations got another shout-out for its “remarkable” contributions to the most recent quarter’s better-than-expected results.
"All areas of the business contributed meaningfully during the quarter,” explained Roussseau.
“Air Canada Cargo is expanding its network and fleet, Aeroplan is gaining more members and gross billings have increased 50% when compared to the first quarter of 2022, and Air Canada Vacations produced remarkable results.
“System yields improved approximately 9 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2022. We achieved a strong free cash flow of nearly $1 billion. This will allow us to continue investing in our future, including by further deleveraging our balance sheet," the CEO added.
The airline forecasts that the rest of 2023 will be just as strong.
“We expect demand to persist, supported by strong advance bookings for the remainder of the year,” Rousseau predicted. As a result, the CEO said, “as well as lower-than-expected fuel costs, we increased our 2023 adjusted EBITDA guidance last week.”
For the full, 2023 year, Air Canada plans to increase its Available Seat Mile (ASM) capacity by about 23 per cent from the same quarter in 2022, which would bring it, the airline says, to about 90 per cent of 2019 levels. At the same time, it now predicts its adjusted cost per available seat mile to drop up to 2 and a half per cent below 2022 levels.
Air Canada’s full statement about its 2023 Q1 financial results is available here.
