International growth pushes Jeju Air Q1 profit up 25%

Jeju Air has pointed to solid growth of its international network as the key driver of a 25% increase in its first quarter operating profit to a record KRW57.8 billion ($49.5 million). Revenue for the three months to the end of March rose 27% to W391 billion, driven by growth in its Chinese and Southeast Asian networks, and aided by a 3% rise in yield on domestic services. The carrier commented that the increase in revenue was influenced by the peak season and its “optimal route portfolio”. Net profit was up 18% to W42.6 billion, as foreign currency charges took some of the shine off the operating result. ASKs for the budget airline rose a whopping 30.1% as it added eight aircraft to its fleet and increased utilisation to 14.4 hours per aircraft. However, RPK growth of 27.5% resulted in a modest 1.5-point fall in load factor to an otherwise impressive 90.4%.