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Air Jamaica losses at 184 per cent of transport GDP... Losses top $63b
published: Friday | December 1, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Air <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">Jamaica's</SPAN> corporate headquarters, 72 Harbour Street, Kingston. Shot on Thursday 13.7.2006. For Gleaner Buisness. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Photographer</SPAN>.
Loss-maker Air Jamaica has chalked up a deficit of US$952.8 million ($63.65 billion) for its financial year to December 31, 2005, a position likely to make it even more difficult for the airline's management and Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies to convince Cabinet that more green would turn red into black.
The losses, which more than doubled the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">airlines</SPAN> revenues last year, have outstripped transport/communication Gross Domestic Product, at 184 per cent of the $33.42 billion (US$518 million) that the sector added to the country's earnings in 2005.
It is also equivalent to just under 74 per cent of the total 'travel' trade of US$1.29 billion between Jamaica and other countries recorded on the 2005 balance of payments.
The airline's auditors citing a deficit of working capital and the mounting losses, have concluded that Air Jamaica will survive only with "continued shareholder support" - or put another way, government subsidy - securing funding for capital injection and a turnaround in its financial performance.
The losses rode the back of a 17 per cent decline in airline revenue and a 5.0 per cent increase in its fuel bill.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica reported that the airline made a preliminary US$385 million in revenues from 3,511 seats in 2005, about US$80 million less than the US$466 million made from 4,829 seats in 2004. </DIV></DIV><TABLE width=480 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="40%"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2
Air Jamaica losses at 184 per cent of transport GDP... Losses top $63b
published: Friday | December 1, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Air <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">Jamaica's</SPAN> corporate headquarters, 72 Harbour Street, Kingston. Shot on Thursday 13.7.2006. For Gleaner Buisness. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 1px; COLOR: orange! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: orange 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Photographer</SPAN>.
Loss-maker Air Jamaica has chalked up a deficit of US$952.8 million ($63.65 billion) for its financial year to December 31, 2005, a position likely to make it even more difficult for the airline's management and Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies to convince Cabinet that more green would turn red into black.
The losses, which more than doubled the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; POSITION: static">airlines</SPAN> revenues last year, have outstripped transport/communication Gross Domestic Product, at 184 per cent of the $33.42 billion (US$518 million) that the sector added to the country's earnings in 2005.
It is also equivalent to just under 74 per cent of the total 'travel' trade of US$1.29 billion between Jamaica and other countries recorded on the 2005 balance of payments.
The airline's auditors citing a deficit of working capital and the mounting losses, have concluded that Air Jamaica will survive only with "continued shareholder support" - or put another way, government subsidy - securing funding for capital injection and a turnaround in its financial performance.
The losses rode the back of a 17 per cent decline in airline revenue and a 5.0 per cent increase in its fuel bill.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica reported that the airline made a preliminary US$385 million in revenues from 3,511 seats in 2005, about US$80 million less than the US$466 million made from 4,829 seats in 2004. </DIV></DIV><TABLE width=480 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="40%"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2
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