"If SAA stopped flying tomorrow, there would be enough seats in the market to accommodate all its passengers," said Venter, as Comair reported a 54% rise in taxed profit to R297m for the year to end-June on revenues that had increased by 2%. Costs increased by only 1% as the airline continued its relentless focus on improving its efficiency every year.
Venter said that about 25% of total seats in the domestic airline market went unsold.
Passenger numbers in the market rose 2.3% during the year, but the industry has experienced minimal growth since 2008, and with the economy weak and profit margins narrow, Comair is increasingly looking to its non-airline businesses - in pilot and crew training centres, travel and catering, and the Slow Lounges.
In the latest year, these had contributed 20% of earnings.
It was a "nice clean year" in which the exchange rate and dollar oil prices were relatively stable after the group was hit in 2016 by currency losses on a dollar loan as well as on losses as it exited its oil hedges. Cash generation was up 28%, which will help Comair to continue investing in new aircraft.
Comair's uninterrupted record of profitability is in stark contrast to the woes of its rival, state-owned airline SAA, which has 55 aircraft to Comair's 26 but employs six times Comair's staff of 1,950 people. Comair won a R1.1bn damages case against SAA for uncompetitive behaviour in February, but SAA has appealed against the decision.
Comair has cross-appealed and is now seeking, altogether, R1.9bn in damages.
Source: Business Day
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