KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — AirAsia Group Bhd’s net loss widened to RM851.78 million in the third quarter ended September 30, 2020 (Q3 2020) from RM51.44 million recorded in the same quarter last year.
Revenue plunged 86 per cent to RM442.91 million during the quarter under review from RM3.07 billion previously, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to adversely affect demand for flights, said the low-cost airline group in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.
The group said it would continue to conduct cost-containment measures, including the right sizing of manpower and salary cuts for management, staff and directors.
Efforts to preserve cash, include negotiations for the restructuring of payments with lessors, suppliers and partners, as well as the restructuring of fuel hedging positions were also undertaken, while actively managing capacity to be in line with demand, it said.
In a separate statement, AirAsia Group president (Airlines) Bo Lingam said the group managed to reduce fixed costs by 50 per cent in Q3 2020, with fixed maintenance costs showing the deepest reduction of 68 per cent due to asset optimisation.
He said staff costs declined by 51 per cent contributed by headcount rationalisation, salary cuts across the board and attrition, while other operating expenses decreased 40 per cent year-on-year with strict cost control on marketing, rental and information technology spending.
“Our top priority at this point is to gradually increase our operations in phases, starting with strengthening our domestic foothold across our key markets as the borders remain closed.
“For the fourth quarter, we expect to operate up to 31 per cent of pre-Covid domestic capacity for AirAsia Malaysia, 47 per cent for AirAsia Indonesia and 13 per cent for AirAsia Philippines,” he said.
Lingam expects AirAsia Thailand to exceed its pre-Covid domestic capacity by year-end while AirAsia India to operate up to 67 per cent.
He added that the group was exploring opportunities for a local airline presence in Indo-China.
— Bernama
