El Al's 2007 turnover highest ever in 60-years
28 Mar 2008
Israeli carrier, El Al, returned to profit in 2007 on the back of record revenues, posting $31.7 million in net earnings. This compares to a $33.9 million loss in 2006, when war in Lebanon drastically affected the bottom line.
The carrier said that its turnover of approximately $1.93 billion was the highest ever in its 60-year history, representing a 16% increase from the previous year. It also reported operating profits of $71.4 million, as compared to the previous deficit of $8.5 million.
"The ability of El Al to show profits is the result of the determined effort to reduce expenses while increasing revenue, particularly through the growth engines the airline defined for itself, such as business passengers and increased tourism to Israel," said president Haim Romano. "All this, together with optimizing the fleet and reorganizing routes, brought about this increase and resulted in record growth in revenues and higher load factors."
Load factors rose to more than 85% last year on an increase in capacity of 2%. Its focus on long-haul and premium passengers was reflected by the addition of two 777s for use on routes to the US, new premium lounges at New York JFK and Los Angeles and "significant improvements" to its first and business class in-flight products.
Fourth-quarter revenue also grew 26% year-over-year to $524.3 million.
