KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — Malaysia’s flagship budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd flipped to a loss in the second quarter, it said on Tuesday, charting a fourth straight quarterly loss as revenue took a hit from the coronavirus pandemic.
Its net loss for the April-June quarter reached RM993 million (US$238 million), compared with a net profit of RM17.3 million in the same period a year ago.
Revenue shrunk 96 per cent to RM119 million.
The airline temporarily put its Malaysia and Philippines fleets into hibernation in March, while it significantly reduced flights in Indonesia as the pandemic forced border closures in many countries.
“The reduction of group expenditure could not offset the decrease in revenue as passenger demand collapsed due to the widespread border closures and certain onerous travel restrictions,” AirAsia said.
The airline carried 204,082 passengers in the three-month period, a 98 per cent drop from a year ago. That resulted in a 59 per cent load factor, a measure of how full planes are.
AirAsia has applied for bank loans in its operating markets and has been presented with proposals from investment bankers, lenders and potential investors to raise capital.
“Barring any reversal of flight resumption plans and any major shock to demand, we foresee that we have sufficient working capital to sustain business operations,” it said.
— Reuters
