It is relatively easy for an airline to make money in the all-important third quarter (July-September). They must do so, as this feeds into the war chest to help them through the significantly more challenging winter months when demand and fares reduce. Most airlines lose money in the winter.
But what if you are a long-haul, low-cost carrier? Making this model work at the best of times—even in mid-summer—is punishingly difficult. Norse Atlantic continues to experience this, with its Q3 2024 results even worse than the prior year. Half of the carrier's routes have ended.
The financial picture: Q3 2024 The picture is horrendous. Despite "being in the process of shaping a strategic reorientation for the Company," as it puts it, its net result—what it has after all deductions are made—was a loss of $6.3 million .
This was down from a small net profit of $1.6 million in Q3 2023. Remember, this was during the peak summer.
Yes, it made a small operating profit, but even that was reduced by nearly half year over year. Some 12 aircraft were used for its scheduled operations, and three were subleased to other carriers. The improvement in total revenue was good.
It increased by 8.3% to $222 million. Passenger fares and ancillaries (bags, food, etc.
) rose slightly year-on-year to 93.3% of the total. It made inroads into the aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI; wet leasing) segment, which it says will be more critical in the future, perhaps especially outside the peak.