KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 - AirAsia Bhd posted operating losses of RM75.933 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2008 from an operating profit of RM47.763 million in the same period last year.
The losses were lower than expected despite the extremely difficult operating environment, including high fuel prices, said its chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes in a statement here Friday.
The low cost airline however posted a revenue of RM658.473 million from RM461.585 million previously.
"The resilience and strength of AirAsia produced a strong 43 percent revenue growth driven by strong passenger demand and ancillary income," he said.
Passenger numbers grew by 24 percent to 3.0 million, Tony said.
"We expect to carry a total of 20 million passengers across the AirAsia Group in 2008," he added.
The load factor for the period was at 75.4 percent, which is in line with expectations as we added a significant capacity of 33 percent and introduced five new routes during the period, he said.
Airasia said yield or revenue per available seat kilometer (ASK), was up by 12 percent, driven by a 12 percent higher average fare and strong contribution from ancillary income.
Ancillary income for AirAsia continued to deliver a stellar performance with a 88 percent growth against the same period last year and the per passenger ancillary spending increased by 52 percent to RM23.1 per passenger.
Ancillary income now represents 10.6 percent of total revenue for AirAsia.
"This will be the driver for strong profit margins going forward," said Tony.
According to Tony, unit cost excluding fuel, improved by an impressive 10 percent stemming from productivity gains and an increased number of Airbus A320 aircraft joining the fleet.
He said the Thai operations endured a challenging period due to escalating domestic political disturbances and the temporary closure of airports in Phuket, Krabi, Hadyaai and Narathiwat.
Despite these tough operating conditions, the Thai operations managed to achieve an impressive 79 percent load factor and a 29 percent increase in average fare.
The Thai operations also managed to reduce losses by 44 percent against the immediate preceeding quarter despite the much higher fuel price.
The Indonesian operations meanwhile, made significant improvements with a 61 percent higher yields compared to last year and a 78 percent load factor.
"The route reorganisation exercise coupled with the improved competitive environment enabled the Indonesian operations to narrow down losses by 88 percent against the immediate preceeding quarter," he explained.
On the future outlook, Tony said that the forthcoming fourth quarter is traditionally AirAsia's strongest quarter and sees a sustained strong demand for its services.
He said, the directors expect that, barring unforeseen circumstances, the groups performance will be satisfactory for the fourth quarter.
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