Air New Zealand Sees Second-Half Loss; Frustrated at 787 Delays
By Michael Smith, Reuters | Jul. 21, 2011
Air New Zealand still expects to post a fiscal second-half loss due to high fuel prices and earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan, despite a strong pick-up in its trans-Tasman operations, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.
The carrier also said it was in talks with Boeing about "painful" delays to the delivery of new 787 Dreamliner aircraft which it expects to start deploying in 2014.
Air New Zealand CFO Rob McDonald said he remained comfortable with market forecasts for the airline and reiterated comments made in March which pointed to a loss in the half ended June 30.
"We have been quite clear that the Christchurch earthquake combined with the Japanese earthquake is the biggest single impact we have had and then you can toss jet fuel prices on top of that as well," he told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Sydney.
He pointed to strong gains in passengers numbers on the competitive trans-Tasman route in the last six months,
On the Boeing 787 delivery delays, he said: "It would be an understatement to say we are frustrated and disappointed."
"We are in discussions with Boeing around delivery dates and the financial implications of that."
McDonald said the airline was looking to deepen its Star Alliance relationships but it had no plans to follow in the footsteps of Australia's Qantas and look at setting up a carrier in Asia.
Air New Zealand shares, around 73 percent owned by the government, rose 0.9 percent to NZ$1.19 by 01:22 a.m. GMT.
The carrier has taken a 15 percent stake in Australian carrier Virgin Australia, with whom it is setting up a commercial alliance, to combat aggressive competition from Australian carrier Qantas and its low cost offshoot Jetstar on routes between the two countries.