In common with its sister airlines in the wider AirAsia family, medium-haul specialist AirAsia X is back in black and on its way to full financial health. In the first quarter of 2023, the airline posted a net profit of RM328 million (72.2 million) and returned shareholder equity to the positive side of the ledger.
While making money is paramount to an airline’s survival, it is equally pleasing that AirAsia X has got ahead of the demand curve by adding more aircraft and filling them. By comparison, many of Asia’s largest carriers have taken far too long to bring back capacity in the region despite high demand for seats pushing airfares higher and restraining aviation’s recovery.
More A330s on the way back
Thankfully that’s changing quickly now, and AirAsia X is reaping the rewards from returning more of its parked Airbus widebody aircraft, activating two more in the first quarter. The AirAsia X fleet, including aircraft operated by AirAsia X Thailand, has 22 aircraft, including 20 Airbus A330-300s and two A330-900s.
At the end of March, AirAsia X (AAX) said it was operating nine of its fourteen aircraft, while affiliate AirAsia X Thailand had five out of eight in the air. Commenting on bringing more aircraft back into service, AAX CEO Benyamin Ismail said yesterday:
In the first quarter (1Q23), AAX generated revenue of RM548.8 million ($121 million), around 50% of what it earned in 1Q 2019. As it is still laboring under the Practice Note 17 classification, AAX was keen to point out that shareholder equity turned from a negative RM285.2 million in the previous quarter to a positive RM40.8 million ($9 million) in 1Q23.
Passenger numbers surged to 504,476 in 1Q23, and capacity climbed to 630,069 seats, producing a strong load factor of 80%. The extra capacity was needed for resumed routes to Osaka (Japan), Busan (South Korea), and Shanghai (China) and increased frequencies on the Tokyo route. The quarter was largely unaffected by the March reopening in China, but AAX is optimistic it will launch more flights as China has been one of its most popular markets.
AirAsia X Thailand is also on the up
Affiliate airline AirAsia X Thailand (TAAX) posted revenue of RM356.8 million ($78.5 million) and made a net profit of RM92 million ($20.2 million). During 1Q23 had 329,913 seats available and carried 289,813 passengers, returning a load factor of 88%. TAAX did not add any new destinations in the first quarter but has announced the return of its Bangkok-Shanghai route, which an Airbus A330-300 operates.
AirAsia X operates around 83 flights to 16 destinations weekly, and Ismail said it would ramp up frequencies and launch more destinations in China while reviewing new services to Istanbul (Turkey) and potentially Central Asia. AAX is also benefitting from the recovery of the AirAsia Group, with FlyThru passengers climbing more than 146% to 130,033 in 1Q23.AAX also said it was working closely with Capital A Berhad, [the parent organization], to leverage fleet and route network optimization synergies across the group. This has increased per-passenger ancillary revenue by 24% to RM244 ($54), primarily from upselling more checked bags and other connecting fees related to FlyThru traffic.
Sources: 1News, New Zealand Herald