Air Pacific’s happy landing

Troubled carrier Air Pacific is on course for a drama tic turn around this finan cial year and could even break even after a period of profit drought.

The airline, currently admi nistered by Qantas, can see calmer skies ahead after losses of Fslo million and Fsll mil lion over the past two years.

The Project America route with a chartered DC 10 between Nadi and Hawaii had accounted for close to half the loss, a company executive ex plained.

Financial director Mr Alan Moore, on secondment from Qantas, told PIM: “We’re pro jecting a near break even result in this financial year.”

He said the change was attributable to a number of factors.

“Primarily, it’s due to a rationalisation of route opera tions,” he said.

The cancellation of the Pro ject America service was also important, Moore told PIM.

“It was costing us approx imately $5 million a year in losses.

“The introduction of the 747 service between Sydney and Nadi, which increased the genuine revenue base of the company” was another con tributing factor.

“The Project America service had dollars there but they were being sold for 50 cents,” he said.

He also said that efficiencies in policies and procedures insti-

tuted since the Qantas team arrived had also made a major contribution to the expected improved result.

“There has also been a major drive on cost control.”

For the future, he hoped the introduction of more suitable aircraft on domestic and regio nal routes would take place this year.

“These would be forty to fifty

seat turbo prop aircraft.

“We also hope to see greater capacity on our domestic services and greater frequency on the close regional services,” he told PIM.

Air Pacific’s Alan Moore ... major drive on cost control.