Play Records Loss in Its First Full Quarter of Operations

Play Airlines, the Icelandic low-cost carrier start-up, has posted its quarterly results for the period ending in September; it is the company’s first results announcement that comprises three full months of flying, with the company having started its operations in June. As expected, the company posted a net loss of USD10.8 million.

The result, the company says, was expected, as its routes mature and its name gets known, and as it still has a very limited network. While the scope of the airline will be Transatlantic flying with a hub in Iceland, this project is only going to be rolled out next year; Play, now, is focusing on an Iceland-centric operation, connecting the Icelandic public to major destinations in Europe.

As such, the operational loss, measured by its EBITDA, was at USD5.6 million this quarter, a number that looks small if we look at the big groups’ billion figures, but a large loss if we take in consideration that Play’s revenue for this quarter was USD6.71 million.

Play currently serves five destinations from its base in Keflavik, which serves Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.

Play’s route network out of Iceland

The airline carried 42.3 thousand passengers in the quarter, with a load factor of 46.4%. The figure continuously improved from month to month, going from 41.7% in July to 46.4% in August and 52.1% in September, and while the number is out of the quarter, Play said its load factor was at 67.7%.

In a statement, Play’s CEO, Birgir Jónsson, recognized that,” PLAY is still in a startup phase, and our results will reflect that for some months or until we reach a certain scale in our operation and launch our hub-and-spoke network next spring.”

Nevertheless, the company’s net cash flow from operating activities was at mere USD300 thousand, and the company sat over USD62.7 million in cash at the end of the quarter.

Play’s fleet is currently composed of three Airbus A321neos, with another unit of the aircraft on order and five Airbus A320neos also expected.

This article was written by João Machado for Aviacionline.

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