Air New Zealand reports $528m FY22 loss

Air New Zealand today announced a net loss after tax of NZD$591m (AUD$528.5m) for FY22, but the airline’s CEO, Greg Foran, remains optimistic. Air New Zealand’s loss before other significant items and taxation was NZD$725m (AUD$648m) for the 2022 financial year and the statutory loss before taxation was NZD$810m (AUD$724m).

Unusually for the airline sector, this is a jump on the last financial year, when they reported a net loss after tax of NZD$289m (AUD$258m).

Air New Zealand reported a strong last quarter of this financial year with the phased reopening of the country’s borders, but Air NZ’s operating revenue of NZD$2.7b was significantly impacted by pandemic-related travel restrictions. The carrier cited high fuel prices and reduced flying over much of the year as the cause of the loss, although its Cargo and domestic revenues helped lift overall revenue by 9 per cent.

Foran said that the current environment for the airline is strong and that Air New Zealand is currently in the ‘revive’ phase of the ‘survive, revive, thrive’ journey, adding that the airline continued to be guided by a clear strategy, moving deftly to address continued change by focusing on doing the right thing for its stakeholders.

“For customers, we’ve been focused on restoring services, maintaining a choice of fares and launching innovations to improve their journey with us,” Foran said.

Foran went on to thank the airline’s shareholders and said that a recapitalisation was structured to be fair to the shareholders. He also said that the airline’s decision to reduce seats by 1.5 per cent through to the end of March, is an example of doing the right thing for the stakeholders.

“As we’ve been seeing overseas, travel demand is much stronger than anyone anticipated. But we’re operating in a very tight labour market with high fuel prices, tough economic conditions and the highest levels of employee sickness in more than a decade,” Foran said.

Air New Zealand said it expects the 2023 financial year to represent the first full year of uninterrupted passenger flying since the beginning of the pandemic.

Total flying capacity for the 2023 financial year is expected to be in the range of 75 per cent to 80 percent of pre-COVID levels. On this basis, the airline said it anticipates a significant improvement in financial performance relative to financial year 2022.

Featured Image: Greg Foran – YouTube/Air New Zealand

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