According to reports, Air New Zealand has reported a four fold increase in profits for 2009. This has promoted speculation that the global aviation industry may have emerged from the recession. The airline, after taxes, has made profits of NZ$82 million for the year ending June 30. This is up from the NZ$21 million that was made a year ago.

Fuel hedging losses at the airline also dropped to just NZ$8 million. This is down from the whooping NZ$130 million. All of this news follows much earlier reports from an Australian low cost carrier that confidence was returning to the sector.

The chairman of Air New Zealand, John Palmer, said that the uncertainty surrounding the global economic recovery has continued to suppress demand for air travel over the past 12 months or so. Following the release of these results, Air New Zealand confirmed a dividend of four cents per share, taking the total dividends for the year up to seven cents per share.

Overall, this is an increase of eight percent for 2009, and reflects a very positive outlook for the company. The operating revenue for Air New Zealand, which includes cargo, passenger and contact services, fell NZ$563 million to just NZ$4 billion. However, operating costs for the company were down NZ$583 million to just NZ$3.3 billion.

Just last week, Air New Zealand launched a new trans-Tasman service. The reconfiguration of the airline’s short haul A320 fleet to an all economy cabin has increased Tasman and Pacific Island capacity by some 11 percent.

The chief executive of Air New Zealand, Rob Fyfe, said that in addition, the airline’s proposed trans-Tasman alliance will create a far better and more sustainable service through working with other airlines. This will provide a greatly enhanced offering to the consumers that use this route.