Alitalia announces Q1 2012 results, posts great losses

Alitalia flights did not put up a good showing in the first quarter of this year. Italy’s national carrier Alitalia recently announced its operational results for Q1 of 2012 amid a despondent note.

The airline unveiled its results and said that it suffered great losses in the first quarter of 2012. Reporting a huge decline in its profits, the airline posted losses of $168 million (131 million Euros) in Q1 as compared to the same period last year.

According to Alitalia, the result was worse than in the first quarter of 2011 when it reported a loss of $113.02 million (88 million Euros). However, the airline stated that its sales had increased 13 percent to $996.69 million (776 million Euros).

The airline attributed the huge losses to higher jet fuel prices and a stronger dollar. It also indicated that this year promised to be quite challenging and “very tough”.

Andrea Ragnetti, Alitalia’s chief, said that even though Italy’s entry into recession last year and a significant drop in the number of Italians traveling, the airline had managed to hold the total number of passengers stable at 4.8 million.