ANA Holdings Inc. said Monday it made a net profit for the six months that ended in September, marking its first black ink for the period in three years, as travel demand rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The parent of All Nippon Airways Co. posted a net profit of 19.54 billion yen ($132 million) for the reporting period, a reversal from a net loss of 98.80 billion yen a year ago, as more people started flying for leisure and business after the easing of COVID restrictions.

Operating profit came to 31.45 billion yen, also returning to profitability from an operating loss of 116.01 billion yen a year earlier. Sales jumped 83.4 percent to 790.72 billion yen.

"We were able to capitalize on the recovering trend," CEO Koji Shibata told a press conference.

The company said demand for domestic and international flights is now at 74 percent and 35 percent, respectively, of the pre-pandemic level.

It also said it expects demand for domestic flights to recover to the 2019 level by March next year, while it will likely take a year longer for international flights to achieve their pre-pandemic level.

But Shibata said the pace of demand recovery for both domestic and international flights this fiscal year could be faster than the company's projection.

Based on the improved performance, the company raised its net profit outlook for the current business year through March to 40 billion yen from an earlier projection of 21 billion yen.

Sales forecast were also revised upward at 1.7 trillion yen, up from the previous projection of 1.66 trillion yen.

The company also said it aims to achieve a record 200 billion yen in operating profit by March 2026 as it builds on the recovering trend and strengthens non-flight operations such as expanding its mileage services.

The improved performance was due to the government's easing of coronavirus restrictions, an increase in the number of people vaccinated and the fact that the widespread Omicron variant of the virus has proved to be less dangerous than previous strains.

Japan lifted anti-virus restrictions in all parts of the country in late March while it gradually raised its cap of daily international arrivals this year before entirely removing it earlier this month.


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