Aegean reports strong H1 results
The Group offered 22% more seats following its network expansion, bringing an even higher increase of 28% in passenger traffic and welcoming 4.1 million passengers from 3.2 million in Q2-22. Load factor reached 82.6% from 79.2% in Q2-22. Network expansion with the addition of 16 new international routes, as well as increased frequencies to destinations in Italy, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, markets where demand has recovered significantly, contributed to the Group’s strong performance.
More specifically, strong demand in Q2-23, network expansion and ongoing fleet investment, led to a 42% increase in passenger traffic in H1-23 vs H1-22, with the Group carrying 6.7 million passengers in total in H1-23, while offering 8.2 million available seats, 28% more compared with H1-22.
Ongoing fleet investments and efficient cost management despite inflationary pressures led to achieve an EBITDA growing 3.7 times higher, to 139.5 million euros from 37.7 mil in H1-22.
Pre-tax Profit reached 48.7 million euros compared to a pre-tax Loss of 30.6 million in H1-22.During the first half of 2023, Aegean proceeded with the full repayment of loans drawn during the pandemic (68.5 million euros). Moreover, it fully repaid a finance lease contracted in 2020 for an A321 neo aircraft, while one new A320neo aircraft delivery from Airbus was purchased in cash.
Cash and cash equivalents increased by almost 200 million euros at 30.06.2023 vs 31.12.2022, due to strong operating cash flow, following high pre-bookings for the summer period, despite loan and finance leases repayments and capex.
Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, Aegean’s CEO, commented: "Our performance in H1 2023 confirmed the consistent implementation of our targets in an environment of strong demand and intense competition. We are presenting exceptionally strong results stemming from network expansion and increased capacity following new aircraft deliveries, while at the same time, cost discipline and continuous upgrade of our services and product further enhance our competitiveness."
