United Airlines has just revealed its financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2021. The American carrier indicates that it has achieved its main financial targets. The company has reduced its losses to 1.96 billion dollars after tax compared with 7.1 billion in 2020. However, United received more than 4 billion dollars in federal aid last year. United carried 104.1 million passengers last year. Double the figure for 2020, but still 36% below the figure for 2019 (162.4 million).
Capacity below 2019
The company reports that short-term market volatility due to the omicron variant is not affecting spring travel bookings. At the same time, however, United Airlines now estimates that its annual capacity for 2022 will be lower than in 2019.
The company begins 2022 with a reduced programme. This strategy reflects the impact of the omicron peak on demand. United has announced that it will be selling fewer seats in 2022 than in 2019, even though it plans to increase its capacity this spring. In particular, it plans to put its Boeing 777s back into service. " While omicron will impact demand in the short term, we remain optimistic for the spring and excited for the summer and beyond," said Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines.
"We are looking forward to starting to return the 777s to service this quarter and getting the whole airline back to a normal level of utilisation. We will ramp up with demand this year. By investing in innovative technologies and executing our United Next transformation strategy, we will emerge as the leader in aviation, more efficient than ever before and serving our customers better than ever," he added at the results announcement.
Nice confirmed and ramping up at London Heathrow
United says its capacity in the first quarter of 2022 will remain down from 16% to 18% compared with the same period in 2019. At the same time, it expects revenues to be down by 20% to 25% compared with 2019. However, the company is not releasing any figures for the full year.
The company inaugurated in 2021 flights to 14 international destinations (including five new destinations). In 2022, it has confirmed service to five new destinations. About Europe, United to land in Nice. It will provide daily service from Newark to the Côte d'Azur airport from 29 April.. It should be noted that it will also be launching a daily flight between Zurich and Chicago from 23 April.
As part of United's unprecedented expansion on the US/UK route, the airline will offer 22 daily flights between London Heathrow and 7 American cities. The programme includes seven daily flights between Newark International Airport and London Heathrow, scheduled for March.
