AirAsia X Berhad reported a revenue of RM339.3 million in the sixth quarter of its 18-month full financial year for 2022 ending end December 2022. The airline carried 337,638 passengers, boosted by the year-end peak travel season. The company reported a 6Q net operating profit of RM149.6 million and net profit of RM153.5 million with a cash balance of RM181.9 million as of December 2022.
The airline also reported a record high in average base fare in the sixth quarter to RM866 strengthened by international air travel within the region. The ancillary revenue per passenger was reported to be RM196, up by 17% compared to the same period in 2019 in 6Q of 2022.
The airline reported six percentage point rise in the passenger load factor at 79% with over 97% recovery of the same period in 2019.
The company launched flights to Melbourne, Perth, Sydney-Auckland, Tokyo-Haneda, Sapporo, Taipei, Jeddah and Bali-Denpasar, ending the quarter with 14 routes within its network.
Discussing the outlook for the company, AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said: “For the year 2023, the company expects to relaunch more of its profitable destinations and looks forward to the return to China with the announcement of the reopening of the country’s border in January 2023, in addition to our planned inaugural flight to Turkey this year. Most recently in February 2023, we resumed services to Busan, South Korea, and have added more flights to the existing routes in our network.”
On a full financial year basis, the company reported a revenue of RM878.2 million and a net profit of RM33 billion, predominantly attributable to the return of scheduled passenger flight operations in the second half of 2022 as travel restrictions ease. Driven by the return of demand after a two-year lockdown period, the company carried a total of 417,195 passengers during the year, with a passenger load factor of 78%.
Going ahead, AirAsia notes that it is optimistic of the upward fare trend in the near term as demand for international air travel remains high. The company is also in talks with third-party aircraft lessors for induction of additional aircraft within its fleet. The Group plans to have a total of 17 A330s in its fleet by 2024.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of parent company Capital A, said: “We have been working closely with AirAsia X Group to reinforce our foundations, leveraging synergies from the wider group under Capital A. The commercial and operation teams have been working very closely, especially in the route selection to maximise connectivity, which ultimately drives up our traffic. Even with one additional operating aircraft, Teleport has successfully delivered a 26% increase in freight revenue to RM36 million for AirAsia X during the quarter.”
Meanwhile, AirAsia X Thailand (TAAX) posted a revenue of RM264.2 million, with a net profit of RM357.3 million on the back of unrealised forex gain; barring the gain, TAAX’s core net profit would be RM12.8 million. TAAX’s cash position for the period ended December 2022 stood at RM199.3 million.
For the year, TAAX carried a total of 279,707 passengers, with a PLF of 88%. Beginning in June 2022, TAAX launched flights to Seoul and ended the year with additions of Tokyo-Narita, Osaka, Sapporo, Sydney and Melbourne within its network.
As of the end of December 2022, AirAsia X’s fleet size stood at 14 A330s, with seven aircraft activated and operational. TAAX’s fleet size for the same period stood at eight A330s, with five aircraft activated and operational.
With regards to the performance of AirAsia X and TAAX, chairman of AirAsia X Tunku Dato’ Mahmood Fawzy, said: “With the standstill brought upon by the pandemic well behind us, the AirAsia X Group is on a strong growth trajectory to support significant pent-up demand for affordable mid-range travel. The Group’s restructuring plan is progressing well as planned as it continues to provide scheduled passenger services where there is greatest demand.”