The Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ) share price is falling today after the company released its February investor report.
At the time of writing, the Air New Zealand share price is down 1.74%, trading at $1.69.
Let's take a look at the Kiwi airline's latest results.
What's in the report?
In February, Air New Zealand carried just 621,000 passengers, a drop of more than 50% on the 1,363,000 passengers recorded in February 2020.
Its revenue per passenger kilometre (a transportation industry metric that shows the number of kilometres travelled by paying passengers) fell 83% from $3,015 million in February 2020 to just $379 million this February.
Meanwhile, its available seat kilometres have fallen 82% from the corresponding period last year. This February the airline has filled just 53% of its seats on planes, compared to 79% in February 2020.
Air New Zealand's market update for March will give investors a better comparison on the early impacts of COVID-19 last year.
This report does, however, show an improvement on its January metrics, with 40,000 more passengers and a $1 million increase in revenue per kilometre. The large concern remains its ability to fill its seat capacity, which has fallen from January by 7%.
Air New Zealand share price on a wild ride
From 17 January to 2 April last year, the Air New Zealand share price plummeted from $2.90 cents to just 80 cents, a staggering drop that has since recovered to its current price of around $1.50.
The last four months have been no less volatile, however. From a high of $170 in December, the price dropped to $1.40 in February, only to rebound back into the $1.70 region in mid-March before again falling to its current price.
Its actually risen 7% this month and is up a strong 57% against its industrials sector over the past year, also up 34% against the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
Trans-Tasman bubble a waiting game
Many investors will be awaiting the New Zealand government's call on a timeline to restore flights between Australia and New Zealand, which is scheduled for April 6.
Inflating the Trans-Tasman bubble Air New Zealand would naturally increase Air New Zealand's revenue, but the airline hasn't been simply waiting on the news.
Air New Zealand announced it will run non-stop flights between Auckland and Hobart last week, Tasmania's first regular international flight schedule in 23 years. Its also gearing up for flying to Australian overseas territories Norfolk Island and the Cook Islands.
