AIR New Zealand has updated its full year earnings guidance for the 2023 financial year to NZ$510-$560 million – a significant increase on the originally forecasted NZ$450-$530 million.
The airline attributes the positive outlook to sustained levels of strong demand on both its domestic and international networks, improvements in revenue, and the falling price of jet fuel.
The new earnings expectation assumes an average jet fuel price of US$95 per barrel, with the Kiwi carrier acknowledging that ongoing fuel price volatility, global recessionary risks and inflationary pressures across the entire supply chain may impact the final result for the 2023 financial year.
Its capacity expectations for the second half the the financial year remain largely the same as stated in its February guidance, with around 95% of domestic and 80% of international pre-pandemic levels across the network.
Additionally, Air New Zealand has seen an improvement on passenger load factor, with 85.6% of planes filled by 01 Apr, compared to just 60.7% at the same time last year.
