261 billion baht profits in 2022 for AirAsia X

Many airlines have been fighting to stay afloat amid a downturn in tourism and sky-high operating costs but one airline, AirAsia X, reported a profit of 261 billion baht for the fiscal year that ended on June 20, 2022. The net profit for the year was weakened by the fourth quarter recorded a net loss of 5.19 billion baht, compared with 267 million baht losses in the second quarter of the fiscal year.

The cost of petrol is one major factor airlines struggle with, with fuel accounting for 35% of airline operational costs, up from a maximum of 30% previously. And while oil prices are beginning to creep down a bit, those price changes will take longer to affect the airline industry. The lowered value of the ringgit (and the baht) also affects operating costs and fuel costs.

AirAsia X, based in Kuala Lumpur, had a total revenue for the 2022 fiscal year of 3.49 billion baht, with 853 million baht revenue in the fourth quarter alone. At the end of 2020, AirAsia X announced that they were changing their fiscal year to end in the middle of the calendar year instead of at the end of it.

The low-cost airline is refocusing its priorities to address the areas with the most demand for passengers and cargo while battling the hurdles of continued Covid-19 restrictions and rules that slow down travel. Some countries are fully open or nearing that milestone, while other destinations such as Australia, China, Taiwan, and Japan still have pandemic restrictions in place, with limited access or complex and slow visa processes. Even their home base of Malaysia isn’t fully free of coronavirus restrictions.

The airline has recently launched new flights to Korea into Seoul’s Incheon Airport and India’s capital city of New Delhi. By the end of 2022, or early on in 2023, AirAsia X has its sights set on expanding service into Dubai, Istanbul in Turkey, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and the UK, while also ramping up service to Australia and Japan in line with their Covid restriction easing.

SOURCE: Asian News Today