Fiji Airways has announced record-breaking revenues of $1.8billion for its 2023 financial year, a 67 per cent growth over 2022.
Officially announcing the national airline’s financial in Nadi yesterday, chief executive officer Andre Viljoen said the results were “the biggest number that this airline has ever seen, the highest we’ve ever posted in our 70-year history”.
“Our EBITA (Earnings Before Income Tax, Ammortisation), which is what banks measure you with, was $370m, a 171 per cent growth.
“Profit Before Income Tax $132m, a 180per cent growth. Cash receipts from operations was $1.9b, a 58 per cent growth.
“With all of that, we’ve repaid $100m of our debt, we’ve acquired two additional Airbus 350s and our seats that we put out in 2023 for sale was 2.8m seats, a 47 per cent growth over 2022. And the passengers we actually carried was 2.2m.”
The boom year also allowed the airline to restore its equity back to $265m, which, according to Mr Viljoen is half of what the company had before COVID.
Mr Viljoen attributed the year’s success to employees, saying it was “a testament to your dedication and commitment to make the national airline a beacon of what Fijian companies can achieve”.
“These results and figures are nothing short of absolutely remarkable. Something that many would have thought impossible for a small airline like Fiji Airways,” he said.
Fiji Airways board chairman Nalin Patel said given Fiji Airways’ strong recovery from the pandemic, the board “was glad to recommend the resumption of dividend payments and approved an interim dividend payment of $15m”.
“2023 has been a year of remarkable achievements and new benchmarks have further strengthened our position as the leading airline in the Pacific region,” Mr Patel said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad thanked the Fiji Airways team for “such a historic record, thereby bringing the nation such honour and distinction”.
“The revenue for the year 2023 of $1.8b is in many ways a direct injection into the national economy,” Mr Prasad said.
