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Nok Air posts US$243.4 million annual loss
September 2nd 2021
Thailand's Nok Air has reported a net loss of 7.9 billion baht (US$243.4 million) for the 12 months to December 31, 2020, about four times larger than the net loss of 1.9 billion baht for calendar 2019. Read More » Revenue collapsed by 66.3%, to 6.7 billion baht, Nok Air said in a regulatory filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Total expenses were 29.9% lower, at 16.2 billion baht. "The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 imposes severe impacts on global demand for air transportation," Nok Air said. "The industry has been impacted from the international travel restrictions and the local shutdown from March to May 2020 resulting in temporary suspensions of international flight operations. Nevertheless, the company remained the only carrier that continued to operate domestic services during the shutdown as it considered air transport is vital to the community even if it results in financial loss." In July last year, the LCC applied to Thailand's Central Bankruptcy Court to undergo a business rehabilitation plan. Last month creditors approved the plan, which covers debt restructuring, fleet and route adjustments and commercial strategies. "The company expects to manage the operations in accordance with the objectives of the rehabilitation plan in the fourth quarter of 2021," Nok Air said. The airline said recently it would be switch its business model to one of a premium carrier to avoid the fierce discounting among LCCs in the market.
