Brazilian airline Gol said on Tuesday that its net profit rose by 10.9 percent in 2006 to reach 569 million reals (US$267 million), despite a drastic drop in the last quarter.

 

In a statement, the firm said it made 92.7 million reals (US$43.5 million) in net profit in the last quarter, down 45 percent from a year earlier.

 

The drop was attributed mainly to the Sept. 29 collision between a Boeing owned by Gol and a Legacy jet, which killed 154 people, making it the worst air disaster in Brazil's history.

 

It was due in part to an overload in the air traffic control system which also caused delays and cancellations of flights throughout the country in the holiday season.

 

In December Gol's ticket sales fell by 30 percent month-on-month, but it managed to close the fourth quarter of 2006 with a net revenue of over 1 billion reals (US$469 million), a 23-percent increase year-on-year.

 

The company's net profit stood at 513 million reals (US$241 million) in 2005.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2007)