AirAsia Group records ‘a leaner quarter’ in 3Q2018 due to fuel price increases and natural disasters

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes stated (29-Nov-2018) 3Q2018 was “a leaner quarter”, with the group’s airlines in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines recording net operating losses while “Malaysia recorded a commendable net operating profit”. Mr Fernandes attributed the net operating losses for the non Malaysia units partly to the closure of Boracay Island in the Philippines, a series of natural disasters in Indonesia and “pressures on fare prices due to tighter competition in Thailand coupled with the ferry incident in Phuket which deterred Chinese tourists into Thailand”. He added that “As a whole, our operating profit was largely impacted by the rising global fuel prices” during the quarter, but said the group continued to outperform numerous full service and LCC competitors despite the challenging operating environment. Mr Fernandes reported “Our data collection and target selling has started to bear fruit”, resulting in a significant increase in duty free retail revenue during the quarter.