“We’re pleased that the positive momentum that started in mid-2011 continued through the year-end,” Dunkerley said, adding “2012 is going to be an eventful year for our company as we prepare and then launch service to new destinations.”
BY AUDREY MCAVOY | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — Hawaiian Airlines’ parent company said Tuesday its net income in the last three months of 2011 shrank 70 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, as its average fuel costs rose 28 percent from the previous year.
Honolulu-based Hawaiian Holdings Inc. said it earned $20.9 million. Operating revenue jumped 26 percent to $434 million as the airline added new routes and capacity expanded 16 percent.
CEO Mark Dunkerley said good cost control and fare increases allowed the company to offset a 35 percent increase in the cost of fuel.
“It is particularly noteworthy that these results were posted during a period in which our operations grew rapidly,” Dunkerley said in a statement.
For all of last year, Hawaiian reported a net loss of $2.6 million, compared with $110 million in net income for 2010.
Without charges for buying 15 Boeing 717 planes previously under lease agreements, and for a new way of accounting for fuel expenses that more closely reflects net cash outflow, Hawaiian said its adjusted net income for the year would be $43.2 million.
That’s a small drop from $45.4 million in adjusted net income reported for 2010.
Dunkerley told investors on a conference call that revenue from its international routes tripled over the past year.
The airline began flying to Sydney every day in December and will start flying to Seoul, South Korea, daily in July.
“Not only are we pleased by the success of our Tokyo and Osaka (Japan) routes but we are also confident enough in the demand for our Sydney and Seoul flights to offer daily frequencies in both markets,” he said.
It also plans to expand its operations in Japan by offering daily flights to Fukuoka beginning in April.
“We’re pleased that the positive momentum that started in mid-2011 continued through the year-end,” Dunkerley said, adding “2012 is going to be an eventful year for our company as we prepare and then launch service to new destinations.”