Air Canada raises earnings outlook amid strong demand, lower fuel prices

Amid a “stronger-than-anticipated” demand for travel and lower-than expected fuel prices, Air Canada has updated its earnings outlook for 2023.

The revised guidance also reflects adjustments to various expense items, including those resulting from higher-than-expected traffic, according to a press release issued Thursday (May 4).

Air Canada's 2023 capacity guidance, however, remains “substantially unchanged,” the airline said.

READ MORE: Air Canada & Bell announce multi-year deal, reveal new in-flight benefits

The carrier says its adjusted earnings (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) this year, as of May 4, are expected to reach between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, up from original forecasts of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, which were released on Feb. 17.

Air Canada’s CASM (cost per available seat mile) is expected to be roughly 0.5 to 2.5 per cent below 2022 levels.

The company is assuming moderate Canadian GDP growth for 2023. It expects the Canadian dollar will trade, on average, at C$1.34 per U.S. dollar for the full year 2023 and that the price of jet fuel will average C$1.09 per litre.

Earlier this week, Air Canada and Bell announced a multi-year deal that will allow free texting messaging for all Aeroplan members on all Wi-Fi equipped aircraft across Air Canada's fleet.

The in-flight service, which begins May 15, will enable passengers to send and receive text-based messages using popular apps, including Apple's iMessage, Meta's WhatsApp and Messenger, Rakuten's Viber, and Messages by Google.

Air Canada will release its first quarter results for 2023 on May 12.

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