is focused on another year of significant growth in 2012, as it launches new long-haul routes and takes delivery of additional .
For 2012, “our agenda revolves around the introduction of new services,” Hawaiian CEO Mark Dunkerley tells financial analysts during an earnings call. These services include a third Japanese route to Fukuoka to begin in April and the debut of a New York Kennedy-Honolulu direct flight in June, which is the airline’s first foray to the East Coast. Dunkerley indicated the carrier is looking at additional Japanese routes in 2013, and more Asian destinations.
Hawaiian is scheduled to take delivery of four A330s this year, with the first of these arriving in March. It is not expecting to retire any moreduring the year. The other three A330s are set to arrive by June.
The carrier is scheduled to receive a total of 17 A330s between now and the end of 2015. It plans to retire 10 767s during that period.
The timing of the four 2012 A330 arrivals means that the airline’s capacity growth will be higher in the second half of the year, says CFO Scott Topping. First-half growth of 10%-12% reflects new international routes introduced in the second half of 2011. Full-year 2012 growth is expected to be 20%-23%.
Hawaiian’s U.S. West Coast routes accounted for the largest share of the airline’s operations in the fourth quarter, representing slightly less than half its revenue. However, this is down from about 60% of total revenue in previous years. This demonstrates the carrier’s continuing efforts to diversify, Dunkerley says.
The share of revenue from inter-island operations was also lower, while revenue from international routes rose to 25% in the fourth quarter – tripling its share from the same period in 2010.
The carrier saw a full-year net loss of $2.6 million in 2011, compared to a profit of $110.3 million for 2010. However, adjusting fuel expenses to include hedging losses and gains and excluding certain special items, the carrier’s 2011 profit of $43.2 million was only slightly lower than the 2010 profit of $45.4 million.
For the fourth quarter, Hawaiian reported a net profit of $20.9 million. This was down significantly from the profit in the same period in 2010, but was higher than the comparable 2010 figure when adjusting for economic fuel expense and special items.
Dunkerley says the fourth-quarter results “continue the trend of improvement that began mid-year.” He says cost control and fare increases helped the carrier offset a 35% increase in fuel prices.