Air New Zealand earnings hampered by lack of planes
by Gyles Beckford · RNZ- Air NZ six-month pre-tax earnings forecast $120m-$160m vs $186m a year ago
- About $60m of forecast from compensation, unused travel credits, leasing gains
- Jet fleet down 10 planes because of engine issues
- Travel market mixed - business travel improving, government spend soft
A lack of planes and a mixed travel market are set to reduce Air New Zealand's half-year result.
In a trading update ahead of an investor day presentation, the airline said it continued to be affected by a range of factors identified in the past.
It forecast six-month pre-tax earnings to the end of December between $120 million to $160m, compared to $186m the year before.
"Aircraft availability issues resulting from global engine maintenance delays have seen up to six Airbus neo aircraft and up to four Boeing 787 aircraft out of service across the first half of this financial year," the airline said in a statement.
Air New Zealand, like many other airlines, has had delays in getting maintenance scheduled for engines for its planes.
"Based on current assumptions and recent discussions with engine manufacturers, the airline does not expect these availability issues to ease until early 2026."
The result included about $10m worth of unused travel credits, $30m compensation from engine manufacturers for delays in maintenance, and $20m from the sale and leaseback of four Airbus jets.
The airline said it had seen some improvement in corporate travel demand, but government business remained subdued.
The travel market remained a mixed bag, with Air New Zealand having 80 percent of the domestic travel market, where it had moved to trim capacity and frequency of flights on some routes.
It noted an improvement in corporate travel, but still subdued government travel demand, and that competition on the North American routes had eased.
Air New Zealand said it would likely make a full-year forecast at the half-year result in February. Last year it had pre-tax earnings of $222m.
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