Taiwanese carriers China Airlines and EVA Air reported first-quarter losses of TWD2.97 billion (US$97.4 million) and TWD2.29 billion respectively, with both carriers blaming high fuel costs.
China Airlines’ loss deepened from a TWD806 million loss in the same period a year earlier, while EVA’s loss compared to a TWD331 million loss last year. On the revenue side, China Airlines saw income rise 8.6 per cent to TWD31 billion while EVA’s rose 6 per cent to TWD23.8 billion.
Fuel costs soared 34 per cent year-on-year for EVA while the impact on China Airlineswas significantly less at a 21.7 increase.