Air Canada has reported further recovery, with its first quarter financial results showing strong improvement.
The Canadian carrier posted total operating revenues of $5.2bn; up 7% on a year-on-year basis. Operating income came in at $11m and adjusted earnings reached $453m.
The airline’s net loss figure fell, strongly, to $96m from $188m a year ago.
Air Canada president and chief executive, Michael Rousseau: “Air Canada’s solid first quarter results position our airline for a strong performance in 2024. We had operating revenues of $5.2bn in the quarter, up $339mfrom last year. Adjusted EBITDA grew by $42m year over year to $453m. I thank our employees for their hard work taking care of our 11 million customers and transporting them safely throughout the quarter. I also commend them for improving our operations, notably a 13 percentage-point increase in system-wide, on-time arrivals, preparing us for an anticipated busy summer period.”
“We are confident in our ability to deliver on our full year 2024 guidance. As we look toward the summer, we see a continued healthy demand environment, and our customers will have a wide range of exciting travel options across Europe, Asia, and North America, for their summer holiday planning.”
“In the quarter, we generated over $1bn of free cash flow, mainly resulting from cash generated from operating activities. Our net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio fell to 0.9 at the quarter’s end. We also made further progress in our strategy to deleverage the balance sheet by reducing gross debt.”
