April 24, 2024

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Jeju Air, South Korea’s biggest low-cost carrier by sales, on May 7 said that it posted a 14 percent on-year jump in first-quarter net profit on an expanded fleet and focus on Asian routes.

Net profit for the January-March period climbed to 42 billion won ($36 million) from 37 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Operating profit also jumped 23 percent to 57 billion won in the first quarter from 46 billion won a year ago. Sales were up 27 percent to 393 billion won from 309 billion won during the same period, it said.

The company currently operates 41 B737-800NG planes to serve flights on six domestic and 60 international routes mainly to the Asia-Pacific region.

In November last year, it signed a $4.4 billion deal to buy 40 B737 MAX passenger jets to beef up its fleet, with the delivery set to begin in 2022.

Jeju Air is 59.59 percent owned by Aekyung Group, a cosmetics-to-health care conglomerate.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)