All Nippon Airways Posts Record Revenue Operating Profit In Fiscal 1H

Summary ANA Holdings has capitalized on the end of COVID-19 border restrictions in Japan to achieve a record operating profit in 1H23, with increased revenue from both domestic and international travel.
Revenue from international operations more than doubled, accounting for 39% of total Air Transportation revenue, and the airline carried 3.47 million international passengers, leading to a significant increase in profitability.
Domestic revenue also rose by 33% with ANA’s domestic passenger numbers reaching 20.4 million, although business travel is yet to fully recover and weather disruptions impacted domestic services. Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation also experienced a robust recovery through increasing leisure demand on domestic and international routes.
ANA Holdings, the parent company of All Nippon Airways, has fully capitalized on the end of COVID-19 border restrictions in Japan to post a record operating profit in the six months ended September 30, 2023. Investors will be happy as, for the first time in five years, the airline is paying them a dividend on the result.
A complete turnaround
ANA Holdings reports financial years from April 1 – March 31, and last week, it released its results for the first six months of its fiscal year 2023. Between April 1 and September 30, 2023 (1H23), ANA recorded a record operating income of Y130 billion ($865 million), ordinary income of Y127 billion ($844m), and net income attributable to the owners of Y93 billion ($620 million). To illustrate the size of the gains this year, the corresponding figures in 1H22 were $208 million, $200 million, and $130 million.
Photo: Omid Behzadpour | Shutterstock
Operating revenue in 1H23 increased by 27% to Y1 trillion ($6.7 billion) with a record-breaking profit margin of 12.9%. ANA attributed the first-half results to solid growth in both domestic and international travel as passenger demand continued to recover steadily. Air transportation makes up 91% of the group’s revenue, and year-on-year, that increased by 28%, with gains coming from domestic and international services. In its announcement, ANA Holdings said:
“Supported by the recovery in inbound travel to Japan and leisure travel, demand for both international and domestic passenger travel was strong, and revenue was significantly higher than in the same period of the previous year. While variable costs increased due to an expansion in the scale of operations, profitability improved significantly as a result of extensive cost management initiatives.”
As travel restrictions eased throughout the half, revenue from international operations more than doubled and accounted for 39% of total air transportation revenue. ANA carried 3.47 million international passengers in 1H23 compared to 1.7 million last year, and the passenger load factor, a key driver of profitability, reached 78.5%, well ahead of the 72.5% in 1H22.
The rapid rise in passenger numbers and revenue mainly came from inbound travel to Japan, aided by proactive efforts to capture transit demand between North America to/from China and Asia. The airline also focused on boosting leisure demand from Japan by expanding its operations and destinations in its international network.
Photo: Airbus
A colorful example of that was increasing the number of flights on the Airbus A380 Flying Honu aircraft from seven to ten weekly on the Narita-Honolulu route.
Good results on domestic and Peach
ANA’s domestic passenger numbers amounted to 20.4 million at a load factor of 69.2%, compared to 15.1 million at 58.9% last year. Domestic revenue rose by 33% year-on-year and made up 35% of Air Transportation’s total revenue, roughly the same as for international operations. ANA said that business travel has not yet fully recovered in Japan and that the typhoon and other weather-related disruptions impacted domestic services.
Photo: Kittikun Yoksap | Shutterstock
Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation also bounced back robustly, with revenue rising by 65% from carrying 4.7 million passengers at a load factor of 86.4%, compared to 6 million at 69.8% in 1H22. That was driven by increasing leisure demand on domestic routes and successful efforts to capture demand on international routes, including inbound flights to Japan.
Find more news about Asian aviation here
Peach Aviation has now restored all international routes from Tokyo Haneda Airport and Osaka Kansai Airport, which had been suspended during the pandemic.