Israeli airline El Al reported a narrower loss in the fourth quarter as revenue more than doubled after the country began reopening its borders to foreign tourists, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
Its auditors, however, attached a "going concern" warning in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Sales had plummeted at El Al, Israel's flag carrier, amid restrictions imposed during the pandemic to curb the spread of COVID-19. It said on Thursday it lost a net $110 million in October-December -- despite an 85% jump in jet fuel costs -- compared with a $140 million loss a year earlier.
Revenue jumped 137% to $265 million from $112 million a year ago, which is still about half its pre-COVID level of about $544 million in 2019.
El Al Chief Executive Avigal Soreq said advance bookings had gradually risen over the first two months of 2022.
"The skies are clearing up," Soreq told reporters.
While reaching 2019 levels of bookings is unlikely, he said "we are doing everything we can in order to be as close as we possibly can to" 2019.
Soreq said El Al was waiting to hear from the government about settling a dispute over security at Dubai airport, which has limited the number of flights by Israeli carriers.
At the same time, he said El Al was still doing its due diligence in a planned process to buy smaller Israeli carrier Arkia.
El Al will continue flights to Russia through March 9 after Israel's parliamentary finance committee approved state guarantees of $2 billion for Israel's airlines on the Israel-Russia route.
For all of 2021, El Al posted a 21% narrower net loss of $413 million, while revenue rose 38% to $857 million.
El Al's shares were 0.8% higher in early afternoon trading in Tel Aviv.