AirAsia X Looking At U-turn

2nd Apr 2015

According to AirAsia X, this carrier is positive that it will make a turnaround in 2015, following the execution of a capacity management and reshuffling exercise.

Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Chief Executive Officer at AirAsia Group said that the carrier has already seen an encouraging trend in the previous two months when it comes to fares and off-take and believes this will carry on throughout the year.

Here’s mister Meranun said to the local press following AirAsia X’s EGM (extraordinary general meeting) on Friday:

The capacity management is not to scale down, but on how to realign the company to put in on the right projection, after a challenging last year due to three aviation incidents.

In the first quarter, we are doing a lot more cost-savings integration by looking at whatever roots we can add on, as well as charter flights.

This is an interim measure until we can develop more commercially viable routes.

In the meantime, as Malaysia prepares to take over this year’s Asian chairmanship, non-executive chairman of AirAsia X Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz expects that the suggested NAV (National Aviation Council) will create a broad framework for the air travel industry that will work across this continent.

Speaking about this she said:

The NAV is for Malaysia, but we think it is timely to use this platform to see if we can formulate parameters to grow the Asian aviation industry.

She also added that the National Aviation Council needs to be a fully independent body, with no more than six members. These members, she explains, cannot be related to any airline company and will have to be experts in the field of aviation.

NAV was established last year by the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to manage all aviation industry-related procedures.

In the last year, AirAsia X’s pre-tax loss was RM 605,18 million, a significant increase when compared to 2013 when it was RM 212,06 million.