Amadeus returns to profit as air travel recovers

MADRID: Amadeus, the world’s largest travel reservations business, announced on Friday that it had returned to profit in the first quarter of 2022, as air travel resumed following the lifting of the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

During the first three months of the year, the Spanish company had an adjusted net profit of 81.3 million euros ($85.4 million), compared to a deficit of 95.3 million euros the previous year.

Analysts at financial data firm Factset predicted a profit of 68 million euros, but the result was better.

It was the company’s “best quarterly since the start of the pandemic” in 2020, according to CEO Luis Maroto.

“The slower start to the year due to the Omicron variant was offset by solid performances across all our segments during the rest of the quarter,” he added in a statement.

Amadeus, whose main offering is an airline ticketing reservation network for travel firms, reported processing roughly 92 million bookings in the third quarter, a little more than half of pre-pandemic levels.

The Covid crisis hit the aviation industry hard in early 2020, decimating demand and halting flights all over the world.

According to the International Air Transport Association, the industry’s primary trade group, 3.4 billion passengers will fly in 2022, up from 2.3 billion last year.

Prior to the epidemic, 4.5 billion people flew in 2019.

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