TRANSASIA AIRWAYS REPORTS NT$4.5 BILLION REVENUE FOR FIRST HALF-YEAR 2012 FINANCIAL YEAR – UP 11.15% YEAR-ON-YEAR

1H2012 Financial Highlights:
 Achieved Net profit after tax of NT$45.5 million
 Strong cross-straits business driven by increasing number of inbound travellers from PRC

Singapore, 2012-08-31 — /travelprnews.com/ — Taiwan’s leading airline TransAsia Airways, today reported its financial performance for the first half of 2012 ended 30th June. The Airline achieved 11.15% increase in revenue with NT$4.5 billion (US$150.6 million), compared to NT$4.07 billion (US$135.5 million) for the previous corresponding period. Earnings per share was reported as NT$0.08. Company’s debt ratio is lower than industry average at 40.11%.

The growth in revenue was bolstered by the launch of the airline’s three new cross-straits routes in the past six months; Hualien-Hangzhou, Hualien-Wuhan and Taoyuan-Sanya. With the new routes, TransAsia Airways now flies to a total of 13 cross-straits routes, with six of those cities being part of the Free Independent Traveller (FIT) Programme (Shanghai, Xiamen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Fuzhou).

Commenting on its financial performance, TransAsia Airways’ Chairman, Mr Vincent M. Lin, said: “We are strongly encouraged by the excellent results delivered by our team. Our cross-straits business continues to be our key revenue booster, and we expect this trend to continue for the second half of 2012. TransAsia Airways’ aviation network in PRC market is strategically mapped to focus on second and third tier cities, including some exclusive routes operated by TransAsia Airways such as Songshan to Hangzhou. This strategy has helped us to further reinforce our position as the leading choice of airline for the region.”

Data released from National Immigration Agency indicated that the number of inbound travellers from PRC has recorded a year-on-year growth of over 60% for the 1st half of 2012.

Commenting further on the Company’s strategy moving forward, he adds: “For international markets, we launched six new scheduled routes in the second half of 2012 to popular holiday destinations in Japan, including Osaka, Okinawa, and various airports in Hokkaido, providing a total of 20 return flights with over 6,300 seats every week. We are very confident about this market with current revenue contribution registering 15% of total revenue of all of our International routes. In addition, we will also focus on further evaluating possible destinations within Southeast Asia, including Bangkok, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.”

TransAsia Airways operates a full service daily flight between Singapore and Taipei using a 150-seat Airbus A320 with 12 Business Class seats, and a total of 2,100 seats per week. It also operates one of the most comprehensive networks of internal flights across Taiwan, making the airline a preferred choice of airline for those wishing to travel extensively within Taiwan.

Flight (GE-888) departs Singapore at 0720 hours and arrives in Taipei at 1215 hours. The return flight from Taipei (GE-887) departs at 1920 hours every day and lands back in Singapore at 2345 hours. Ticket reservations can be made through TransAsia Airways’ Singapore booking hotline on +65 6534 1833, via their website www.tna.com.tw or Facebook page www.facebook.com/transasia.sg, or through the local travel agents.

About TransAsia Airways
TransAsia Airways was established in 1951 as the first private airline in Taiwan and has since grown to be one of the nation’s three largest carriers.

Operating a modern passenger fleet of 18 aircraft, TransAsia Airways flies to a network of 46 routes – 7 domestic and 39 regional, including China, Japan, Macau, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. TransAsia Airways also operates chartered flights to Japan and many other cities in Asia.

The company recorded revenues of NT $8.74 billion for the full year ended 31st December 2011, with a year-on-year growth rate of 4.62%, a net-profit margin of 7.60% and a cumulative Earnings Per Share (EPS) of NT $1.34, which makes it the best-performing airline in Taiwan. 29 new aircraft are on order with deliveries scheduled from 2012 onwards.

TransAsia Airways is a publically listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

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