Korean Air posts ‘record’ revenue in Q3 despite fuel costs

Korean Air achieved record-high quarterly revenue of KRW 5.0448 trillion in Q3 2026 despite sustained high fuel prices. This marks a year-on-year increase of KRW 1.0363 trillion. Operating profit also grew by KRW 44.9 billion year-on-year to KRW 421.2 billion. Net income surged significantly year-on-year, driven in part by favorable foreign exchange translation effects as the USD/KRW exchange rate declined at the end of the third quarter. Passenger revenue increased by KRW 496.3 billion year-on-year to KRW 2.9174 trillion in Q3. While outbound travel demand from Korea softened slightly due to fuel surcharges and a weak Korean Won, passenger revenue grew driven by strong inbound traffic and transit demand via Incheon. The airline also actively captured summer peak season demand by expanding capacity across routes to the Americas and Japan. Cargo revenue totalled KRW 1.4323 trillion, up KRW 365.6 billion year-on-year. The sector maintained strong growth driven by steady demand for high-value AI and semiconductor components. Profitability was maximised by adjusting capacity to regional market demand fluctuations. Looking ahead to Q4, fuel cost pressures are expected to persist due to the prolonged conflict in the Middle East. The passenger business plans to enhance profitability by focusing on inbound and transit traffic. The cargo business aims to maximize revenue through flexible capacity deployment, to capitalize on the traditional year-end peak season and sustained demand for AI and semiconductor sectors. Ahead of the December 17 integration, Korean Air is aligning its service protocols to ensure operational excellence across its expanding global network. Singapore Airlines sees jump in traffic Supported by healthy demand, the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group’s passenger traffic increased by 2.8% year-on-year, with the growth broad-based across most regions. As a result, the Group’s passenger load factor (PLF) came in at 86.8%, with SIA and Scoot posting monthly PLFs of 85.7% and 90.8% respectively. SIA’s PLFs saw a year-on-year decrease in East Asia, Europe and South West Pacific as the capacity increase outpaced traffic growth. The two airlines carried a combined total of 3.5 million passengers, 3.7% more than a year earlier. Cargo loads rose by 9.4% year-on-year, supported by growth across most verticals, particularly shipments of hardware for semiconductor and artificial intelligence applications. This outpaced the 3.1% increase in cargo capacity. Consequently, the cargo load factor improved by 3.4 percentage points to 59.6%. As of 30 September 2026, the Group’s passenger network1 covered 136 destinations in 35 countries and territories. SIA served 78 destinations, while Scoot served 84 destinations. The cargo network1 comprised 139 destinations in 36 countries and territories. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]