All Nippon Airways, Japan's second-largest airline, said Monday its net profit more than tripled in the quarter to June helped by rising demand for flights to China and for business travel.
Net profit jumped to 7.68 billion yen (67.11 million dollars) in the fiscal first quarter, up from 2.16 billion a year earlier.
Operating profit gained 66.1 percent to 19.53 billion yen on revenue of 345.22 billion yen, up 10.5 percent year-on-year.
ANA saw a drop in passengers to China in the wake of anti-Japan protests there last year but said traffic on the routes had now recovered, helping to lift international passenger numbers by 16.2 percent to 1.09 million.
The airline carried 11 million passengers on domestic routes in the June quarter, up 2.3 percent year-on-year. Revenue from cargo services increased by 8.3 percent.
"The gradual recovery of the Japanese economy continued (in the first quarter), driven by strong corporate performance and a recovery in individual consumption," ANA said in a statement.
"However, there are still some uncertain factors which could impact corporate performance, including the continued skyrocketing petroleum prices due to the geopolitical situations in the Middle East and Asia," it added.
ANA kept its forecast for a full-year net profit of 27 billion yen on revenue of 1.42 trillion yen, citing uncertainties over high oil prices which pushed its fuel bill up 9.5 billion yen in the June quarter year-on-year.
