El Al posts $14.8 million second quarter profit

El Al reported a second quarter net profit of $14.8 million, reversing a $19.7 million loss in the year-ago period.

President and CEO Elyezer Shkedy said “creating a significant increase in revenues” and adopting a “very focused commercial policy” led to the improvement. He said the company “ended the quarter with a very positive cash flow from regular activities, to the tune of $82.9 million. This represents a solid base on which to advance and further strengthen the company.”

Second quarter revenue rose 25% year-over-year to $498.5 million while operating expenses increased 14% to $400 million, producing an operating profit of $25 million, reversing an operating loss of $24.5 million in the year-ago period. Load factor reached 80.1%, up 3 points from the year-ago period.

"During the quarter, we reached a mutual agreement with Boeing Company, whereby we cancelled an agreement that had been signed by the company in March 2008 for the purchase of four Boeing 777-200s,” said Shkedy (ATW Daily News, April 30). “In addition, we reached an agreement with Boeing concerning the conditions under which El Al will be able to make use of the advances that were paid to Boeing, for purchasing other aircraft in the future."

Shkedy noted that he met with JetBlue CEO David Barger in April and reached an “understanding to sign an interline agreement leading to close cooperation between the two airlines. The final agreement was signed this week.”

Photo: By Roger Payne.