AirAsia X Australian Operations Making A Loss

1st Jun 2014

AirAsia Bhd. may have posted an impressive growth in terms of seat capacity and revenue during the first three months of this year, but the Australian operations of its long-haul brand, AirAsia X, suffered a setback.

Overall, the Malaysian-based budget travel pioneer in Asia managed to grow its revenue by a hefty 24% over the same period last year, or more than 280 million ringgit.

From January to March of this year, the long-haul brand's operations in Australia weren?t able to recoup the loss of 20 million ringgit during the same period last year. Instead, it posted a loss of 52 million ringgit, almost three times as big.

For the record, AirAsia X, along with the full-service Malaysia Airlines, increased their respective capacity in their Australian operations last year following the bilateral air agreement previously signed by Australian and Malaysian governments, allowing carriers from both countries to increase capacity.

Based on the new air agreement as shared by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, AirAsia X now holds 4.5% of all international flights out of Australia compared to 2.8% it held prior to the newly-adopted bilateral agreement.

The long-haul low-cost carrier has a long-term goal of creating a dominant position in Australia by eventually dislodging Jetstar, the current leader in budget travel market in the continent.