KOREAN Air's 2023 revenue reached a record high at US$11.3 billion, exceeding pre-Covid levels.
Despite increased staff wages, the airline still achieved a 10 per cent operating profit margin, surpassing industry standards, according to Montreal's Simple Flying.
korean Air's cargo market performance remained strong in 2023, with revenue up by 58 per cent, although operating profit decreased compared to 2022.
Korean Air recently released its fourth quarter and 2023 full-year financial estimates, which showed that in 2023, the airline earned record high revenue of $11.3 billion with an operating profit of $1.23 billion, while in the quarter that ended December 31, 2023 (4Q2023) Korean Air also posted record quarterly revenue of $3.09 billion.
The fourth quarter operating profit of $142.4 was 65 per cent down on the same period in 2023, which Korean said was due to increased staff wages, including incentives for achieving annual performance and safety performance targets.
With travel restrictions in Northeast Asia a thing of the past, Korean Air has quickly returned seat capacity and is gearing up for a busy start to 2024. Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the airline increased passenger revenue by 16 per cent and load factor by 1.9 percentage points, but available seat kilometres are 20 per cent and revenue passenger kilometres are 18 per cent below the pre-pandemic levels.
Korean Air has been a consistently strong performer in cargo markets, and in 2023, all of its cargo metrics were ahead of 2019, including revenue. The carrier attributed the excellent result to global supply chain issues, ocean freight bottlenecks and limited aircraft belly cargo capacity.
However, Korean cautions that with the recovery of the air cargo industry post-pandemic, cargo operating profit decreased compared to 2022. In the first quarter of 2024, air cargo demand for traditional items, such as semiconductors, automobiles and displays, remains uncertain due to the weakness of the world's economy, although it does see robust demand in the e-commerce sector.
At the end of 2023, Korean Air had a fleet of 159 aircraft, compared to 155 at the end of 2022. The cargo fleet is an all-Boeing affair with four 747Fs, seven 747-8Fs and 12 777Fs.
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Despite increased staff wages, the airline still achieved a 10 per cent operating profit margin, surpassing industry standards, according to Montreal's Simple Flying.
korean Air's cargo market performance remained strong in 2023, with revenue up by 58 per cent, although operating profit decreased compared to 2022.
Korean Air recently released its fourth quarter and 2023 full-year financial estimates, which showed that in 2023, the airline earned record high revenue of $11.3 billion with an operating profit of $1.23 billion, while in the quarter that ended December 31, 2023 (4Q2023) Korean Air also posted record quarterly revenue of $3.09 billion.
The fourth quarter operating profit of $142.4 was 65 per cent down on the same period in 2023, which Korean said was due to increased staff wages, including incentives for achieving annual performance and safety performance targets.
With travel restrictions in Northeast Asia a thing of the past, Korean Air has quickly returned seat capacity and is gearing up for a busy start to 2024. Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the airline increased passenger revenue by 16 per cent and load factor by 1.9 percentage points, but available seat kilometres are 20 per cent and revenue passenger kilometres are 18 per cent below the pre-pandemic levels.
Korean Air has been a consistently strong performer in cargo markets, and in 2023, all of its cargo metrics were ahead of 2019, including revenue. The carrier attributed the excellent result to global supply chain issues, ocean freight bottlenecks and limited aircraft belly cargo capacity.
However, Korean cautions that with the recovery of the air cargo industry post-pandemic, cargo operating profit decreased compared to 2022. In the first quarter of 2024, air cargo demand for traditional items, such as semiconductors, automobiles and displays, remains uncertain due to the weakness of the world's economy, although it does see robust demand in the e-commerce sector.
At the end of 2023, Korean Air had a fleet of 159 aircraft, compared to 155 at the end of 2022. The cargo fleet is an all-Boeing affair with four 747Fs, seven 747-8Fs and 12 777Fs.
SeaNews Turkey
