Vietnam low-cost carrier VietJet Air generated an operating profit of D2.5 trillion ($107 million) for the first nine months of 2018, up 13% from a year earlier.

Revenue for the first nine months grew 50% to D25 trillion, according to a company results presentation.

CASK rose 11.8% to 4.25 US cents, owing to higher fuel costs and the initial cost of new international routes. CASK ex-fuel rose 3% to 2.37 cents, while RASK rose 14.8% to 4.88 cents.

Cash and cash equivalents as of 30 September stood at D4.9 trillion, nearly triple D1.9 trillion held a year earlier.

VietJet carried 16.9 million passengers during the first nine months of the year, up 34% from a year earlier, while overall capacity grew 34.9% to 19.9 million seats. Load factor remained steady at 88%.

Ancillary revenue per passenger grew 16.6% to $16.63.

The carrier’s route network grew to 103 routes (39 domestic/69 international) in the first nine months of the year, up from 70 routes (35 domestic/35 international) a year earlier.

During the period, VietJet achieved a block utilisation of 14.2 hours per aircraft a day.

On 1 November, the carrier disclosed that it generated a third quarter after tax profit of $158 million, up 33% from a year earlier. It did not, however, provide a quarterly operating profit figure, though it had provided this figure in the third quarter of 2017.

Source: Cirium Dashboard