Asiana Airlines swings to profit in 2021 on cargo boom

South Korea's Asiana Airlines Inc. turned to the black in 2021, reporting its largest-ever operating profit since 2010, as global supply chain disruptions boosted air cargo demand and freight charges.

Operating profit came in above-consensus 456.5 billion won ($381 million) on a standalone basis in 2021, versus the previous year’s loss of 63.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The 2021 figure was its best annual result since the airline posted its highest-ever operating profit of 569 billion won in 2010. Revenue grew 15.5% on-year to 4.1 trillion won last year.

“Global supply chain disruptions fueled air cargo demand, pushing profits from cargo services sharply higher," said an Asiana official.

The air cargo business generated a record 3.1 trillion won in 2021 revenue, 47% higher than its previous record of 2.1 trillion won hit in 2020.

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asiana converted its two passenger jets of the A350-900 into freighters in 2020, and additionally two A350 passenger planes and three A330 aircraft into freight carriers in 2021 to better meet rising cargo demand.

“This year, we will also operate passenger routes flexibly to swiftly respond to the pandemic situation,” he said.

Thanks to the cargo boom, the country's flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co. reported more than tenfold growth to 1.4 trillion in 2021 operating profit.

This year, both Korean Air and Asiana are expected to benefit from China’s ban on the conversion of airliners into freighters, which took effect last month.

Korean Air is currently in the middle of completing its 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) acquisition of Asiana Airlines, which is pending approval in South Korea, Europe, the US, Japan and China.