Summary
- EL AL reported its highest second-quarter profit since privatizing, with significant revenue growth and increasing passenger demand.
- The airline achieved an operating profit of $90 million in Q2 2023, in comparison with $9.4 million in the identical quarter last 12 months.
- EL AL is on a path of continued growth, with plans to expand its fleet, and a final decision on aircraft orders is predicted early next 12 months.
Despite capability levels still being barely below pre-pandemic levels, Israeli flag carrier EL AL has recently reported the best second-quarter profit because the airline was privatized about 20 years ago. With corresponding revenue numbers and increasing passenger demand, the airline seems well on target to hit this 12 months’s estimated revenue forecast of nearly $2.5 billion.
EL AL’s best second quarter ever
For the second quarter of this 12 months ending June thirtieth, the flag carrier earned an operating profit of about $90 million, which was ten times the operating profit of $9.4 million earned in the identical quarter of last 12 months. Revenue for this 12 months’s second quarter was at $630 million, a major 22% increase from the $516 million revenue earned in the course of the corresponding quarter in 2022.
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The airline also earned a gross profit of $58.8 million, up from a notable gross lack of about $17 million from last 12 months’s second quarter. Altogether, the revenues for this 12 months’s initial six-month period reached an estimated $1.12 billion, and celebrating the nice numbers and one of the best second quarter ever was Dina Ben Tal Ganacia, Chief Executive Officer of EL AL, as she highlighted:
“After a successful first quarter that represented opening point, we’re delighted to present record results for the second quarter, which was the second most successful quarter for the corporate since its IPO. With the stabilization of revenue and the strict streamlining measures in the course of the Covid pandemic, we’re on the suitable path to keep up financial stability and soundness.”
Continued growth for EL AL
In light of a wonderful 2023 to this point and consecutively successful quarters, Ben Tal Ganacia also hints that EL AL is on a continued path for strategic growth throughout. Two months ago, the flag carrier signed a first-of-its-kind collaborative agreement with Delta Air Lines to supply more convenient connections for passengers flying between Israel and the US.
The airline also mingled with sustainability after breaking into the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) marketplace for the primary time in the course of the long-awaited arrival of its fourth Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner last month, bringing its total Dreamliner fleet count to 16. The delivery flight was powered by about 30% of SAF, signaling the primary use of biofuel for EL AL.
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Along with the finished retrofit project for the airline’s Boeing 777 fleet, Ben Tal Ganacia highlighted that every one these recent developments were a part of EL AL’s near-term marketing strategy – a primary within the flag carrier’s history since privatization. She shared the next:
“I’m proud to present for the primary time the five-year marketing strategy, which has been inbuilt a gradual manner and in step with our strategic plan. I consider on this plan and am confident that we are going to meet the goals we’ve got set for ourselves.”
A possible historical change for EL AL
As a part of this five-year plan, the Israeli carrier intends to expand its fleet from the present 46 aircraft to not less than 59 by 2028, except that the airline has zero aircraft orders on the books. While EL AL has been a primary all-Boeing operator since its establishment in 1948, the airline is potentially seeking to shake up its short-haul fleet by replacing the older Boeing 737-800s with Airbus A321neos.
The airline has been discussing with the European aircraft manufacturer, mainly about list prices for the narrowbody aircraft. However the airline is just not entirely abandoning traditional supplier Boeing, as talks are allegedly in place for possible orders of the Boeing 737 MAX, which can likely replace the 737-800s too, or perhaps the younger 737-900ERS within the airline’s short-haul fleet.
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Considering how massive these decisions can be – a alternative between making a historical change in aircraft supplier or sticking with the normal supplier for new-generation fleet replacements, Ben Tal Ganacia suggests that a final decision will only likely be made early next 12 months. But whichever direction EL AL chooses, recent aircraft orders are at all times excitingly progressive news for any airline.