By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) – Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes announced a net loss in the third quarter of 884.6 millions reais ($160.54million) due to traffic levels that remain below pre-pandemic levels.

The loss was compared to 872 million Brazilian reais an year ago. According to the company, while Brazil’s demand has increased in recent years, its share of air travel still remains at 53% pre-pandemic levels.

Gol claimed that its quarter-end net loss, which included the losses from both the steep Brazilian real depreciation and other non-recurring expenses, was 2.53 billion Brazilian Real. This increase is compared to the loss of 1.72 Billion reais one year prior.

Net revenue for the group was 1.9 billion reais. It rose 96.4% from year-to-year. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before tax, depreciation or amortization (EBITDA), reached 464.7 million, an impressive 63.6% increase.

Due to increased vaccination rates, Brazil’s high-season traveling season, and the return of international flights, the airline expects its capacity to increase 29% over the fourth quarter of the year.

Paulo Kakinoff, chief executive of the company stated in a securities filing that “We anticipate a growth on sales through the final year” and was confident the trend would continue into 2022.

From 2.08 billion in third-quarter liquidity, the airline’s liquidity will reach 3.8billion reais at the end of this year. The net debt stands at 15.5 billion, or 15.8 billion reais in the September quarter.

($1 = 5.5103 reais)