Icelandic budget carrier Play flew into profit for the first time in the last quarter on the back of a record summer performance.
The airline achieved a third quarter net profit of more than $5 million against loss of $2.9 million in the same period last year as passenger numbers rose 74% to 540,000.
Four aircraft and 13 destinations were added to expand the network to 33 destinations in Europe and North America, helping revenue to grow by 84% to $110.2 million with an improved load factor of 88.4%.
The full year outlook remains unchanged from the end of September with projected carryings of around 1.5 million passengers and a $10 million loss on total revenue of around $280 million.
Expansion will be slowed for a year until 2025 amid a “laser focus” on the carrier’s cost base.
Digital onboard passenger self service via travellers’ own personal devices has been introduced on selected aircraft.
Aisle or window seats with more legroom at the front of the aircraft have been made available with the middle seat being blocked.
Chief executive Birgir Johnson said: “This reduces capacity in low season to 200 seats per Airbus A321neo aircraft instead of 214 seats and therefore reduces labour cost as fewer crew members are needed.
“The product increases ancillary revenue and is easy to remove when seasonal demand returns.”
He added: “We are all very proud of our financial and operational results for the third quarter and especially of the fact that Play generated a net profit of $5.2 million, the first-ever quarterly net profit since our inaugural flight in June 2021.
“Operational profit grew tenfold from the same quarter last year, revenues were up 84%, and passenger numbers increased by 74%, quite remarkable facts and a testament to a well-performing business model and a great team of professionals.”
Looking forward, he said: “Play has been on a very steep growth trajectory as we have been increasing our fleet size, expanding our network, and welcoming many new players to our team.
“Growth is expensive, and it is, therefore, a notable achievement that we have been able to increase our unit revenues and grow our ancillary revenues at the same time, resulting in a strong net profit and a healthy cash position.
“We do not plan to grow as much next year but will focus on optimising and stabilising our operation and increasing our profitability before we commence our next growth phase in 2025, which will see more aircraft, some of whom have already been secured, and a more extensive and dense network.
“We continue to have a laser focus on our cost base, and our team has been successful in maintaining a very competitive unit cost, something that is absolutely critical for our success, but nonetheless a real challenge in today’s inflationary business environment.”