GOL Linhas Aereas posted a US$414 million (nearly 2.1 billion Brazilian reais) net loss in 2021’s first half, the company reported in its financial results. Despite an ongoing recovery, the Brazilian market is far from rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the carrier is feeling the impact. Let’s investigate further.
A look into GOL’s financial results
During the first half of the year, GOL had net operating revenues worth US$511 million. That number is a 25.9% decrease compared to 2020’s first semester and a 59% decrease against 2019’s January to June.
GOL’s total passengers onboard numbered nearly 7.5 million during the first half of this year. Compared to 2020, that’s a decrease of 17.3%, despite the fact that Brazilian aviation (like elsewhere) was severely impacted by the COVID pandemic starting in April 2020.
During this past half, the Brazilian carrier had a total of 52,459 departures, offering 9.2 million seats available. It operated an active fleet of 65 aircraft (out of 127 units available).
GOL ended the first half of 2021 with a potential liquidity of US$985 million (approximately five billion Brazilian reais).
GOL is optimistic about the next months
All things considered, GOL’s first half of 2021 was a rough one. Despite that, GOL’s management is optimistic and confident about the near future.
The airline managed to contain cash burn and has repaid approximately US$1.18 billion in debt since the beginning of 2020, becoming one of the few carriers worldwide to do it.
Additionally, GOL believes the vaccine rollout in Brazil will help the airline soar again. Paulo Kakinoff, GOL’s CEO, said during the airlines’ investor call,
“Brazilians are not hesitant about getting vaccinated. We are confident that approximately 85% of over 30s in Brazil will be immunized at the end of the third quarter this year.”
Moreover, the airline sees a business travel sharp recovery happening as soon as 2022’s first quarter. Richard Lark, GOL’s CEO, said,
“Now that clearly that the worst portion of the crisis is behind us, we see several promising perspectives ahead. The company has navigated through the worst possible circumstances, and we are more than strong. We didn’t lose the opportunity to enhance our successful business model further. Now we are even leaner than we were before; we are more efficient.”
Based on that, GOL projects serve up to 168 routes during the second quarter. It plans to resume its international connectivity and increase its operating fleet to 102 units. The carrier expects to have net operating revenues of as much as 5.4 billion Brazilian reais (US$1.07 billion).
A brief look at GOL’s fleet
GOL Linhas Aereas finished the half with a fleet of 127 aircraft. The carrier has 94 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, 23 B737-700, and ten Boeing 737 MAX.
According to its financial results, the carrier still has to receive 63 B737 MAX 8s and 22 B737 MAX 10s in the future.
GOL intends to return six operational aircraft in the next few months, with the flexibility to return even more if necessary.
What do you think of GOL’s financial results? Let us know in the comments below.
