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Old 19th Nov 2008, 03:15
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B747-800
 
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if chinese airlines are looking for help how much more other airlines need help?

FT.com / UK - Chinese airlines seek emergency aid

China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, two of the country's three largest state-run carriers, have applied for emergency government subsidies to keep them airborne in the face of rising costs and falling passenger demand.
The airlines told the Financial Times that they had applied to the government for the subsidies after industry-wide losses in the first 10 months of the year totalled Rmb4.2bn ($615m).
After struggling to cope with record high fuel costs over the past year, Chinese airlines have been hurt even more by the recent big drop in oil prices because of losses stemming from their hedging operations. They have also been hurt by a slowdown in the steady rise of China's currency, the renminbi, against the US dollar.
Most of the heavy debt-load of the Chinese airlines is denominated in US dollars, making them cheaper to service when the renminbi is appreciating.
China Southern's Hong Kong-listed shares, which can be traded freely by international investors, jumped 12 per cent yesterday, while China Eastern's rose 7.6 per cent and Air China's were up 2.5 per cent.
Singapore Airlines limits passenger load factor decline in October, but cargo continues to fall | Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation

SQ


Singapore Airlines passenger load factor for rolling 12 months (%): Nov-08 to Oct-08


Singapore Airlines passenger load factor and cargo load factor growth by region (%): Nov-08 to Oct-08

Singapore Airlines passenger numbers vs cargo volume growth (% change year-on-year): Nov-08 to Oct-08




KAL

Korean Air loses USD5.4 million per day in cruel third quarter | Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation



Korean Air loses USD5.4 million per day in cruel third quarter
Korean Air's shares rose 6.4% on 17-Nov-08 despite the carrier unveiling its biggest quarterly loss in a decade in the third quarter (ended 30-Sep-08). The carrier's net loss reached a breathtaking USD495.7 million in the quarter, compared to a profit of KRW129.6 billion in the same period last year, despite a 16.4% year-on-year increase in revenue.
Korean Air stated, "given current economic conditions, air travel demand will continue to slow down during the fourth quarter and weak cargo demand will continue through the end of this year".
Despite the gloom, investors appear to have seized on management's predictions of an improvement in the airline's fourth-quarter performance on the back of a recent fall in oil prices.
Korean Air's fuel costs rose 83% in the three months to September, due to higher jet fuel prices and the won's sharp (13%) depreciation against the US dollar in the period, which contributed to larger foreign exchange losses and made overseas travel more expensive for Koreans. International travel demand departing from Korea fell 15% during the last quarter.
The confluence of bad news for KAL was enough to give it the worst net margin (-24.8%) among Asia Pacific carriers that have reported third quarter earnings to date. It was even worse than the chronic loss-maker, China Eastern, which turned in a negative 21.6% net margin in the quarter and now looks set to receive a multi-million dollar government bailout.

Selected Asia Pacific carriers' net profit margin for the three* months ended 30-Sep-08:
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