The impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on financial performance of airlines’ in terms of expenses and profitability: Turkish Airlines and Pegasus

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on social, political, and economic facets, precipitating substantial shifts in societal structures and economic frameworks. The pandemic has also taken a toll on the airline passenger transportation sector. During the pandemic, airline travel underwent regulation, with reduced seat capacities and a transition from wide to narrow-body aircraft. Throughout this period, airline revenues experienced a decline while expenses escalated, causing a significant imbalance between income and expenses. This imbalance led to losses in operating activities for airlines. This study investigated the impact of the pandemic on airlines’ expenses. Data were collected from the 2019-2022 financial statements of Turkish Airlines (THY) and Pegasus (PGSUS), which are traded on Borsa Istanbul. The study focused on revenues, costs of sales, gross profit, general administrative expenses, marketing costs, operating profits/losses, financing costs, profits/losses before tax from continuing operations, and net period profits/losses for the financial year. Trend, vertical, and ratio analyses were performed to evaluate the findings. The results showed that the expenses of and Pegasus increased drastically during the pandemic. Their revenues started to rise in 2021 and increased drastically in 2022. While they suffered losses due to high expenses during the pandemic, they showed a better profitability performance in 2022 than before the pandemic.