AirAsia X Berhad (“AirAsia X” or the “Company”) had a strong start in 2024, showing significant growth in its financial performance for the First Quarter of 2024 (“1Q24”) ending on 31 March 2024. The Company achieved a revenue of RM908.9 million in 1Q24, marking a 66% year-on-year (“YoY”) increase, driven by a 90% YoY rise in passengers carried, totaling 959,623, while maintaining a capacity of 1,155,788 seats. This growth was fueled by high demand during key festive periods and school holidays, resulting in a robust Passenger Load Factor (“PLF”) of 83%, up three percentage points YoY. Notably, routes in China, India, and Japan performed exceptionally well with PLFs exceeding 90%. The Company’s Available Seat Kilometres (“ASK”) also grew by 74% YoY, aligning with market demand. During 1Q24, AirAsia X achieved a net profit of RM80.1 million, with a margin of over 8% against its revenue. Its Cost per Available Seat Kilometre (“CASK”) was notably lean at 13.93 sen/US¢2.95, the lowest among comparable airlines in the industry, marking an 11% reduction from the previous quarter’s CASK of 15.71 sen/US¢3.35. This reduction was attributed to lower operating expenses due to decreased jet fuel prices and the increased ASK capacity. Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre (“RASK”) stood at 18 sen, reflecting an average fare of RM650 and a 5% improvement from the preceding quarter. In 1Q24, ancillary revenue per passenger grew by 3% YoY to RM251, driven by tailored product offerings and enhancements in personalization, platform efficiency, and booking flow. Additionally, the introduction of trendy food and beverages (“F&B”) by SANTAN in collaboration with popular F&B brands further boosted ancillary revenue. Focusing on network expansion, AirAsia X increased flight frequencies on popular routes in China like Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai, as well as in leisure destinations like Bali, Indonesia. The Company achieved an 85% YoY increase in the number of stages to 3,184, with an average of 135 flights per week for 1Q24, showcasing its commitment to regaining market leadership and capitalizing on growing demand, especially with the visa-exemption policy extension for Chinese travelers until 2025. Regarding AirAsia X Thailand (“TAAX”), the company reported revenue of RM543.4 million, marking a 52% YoY increase, and achieved a net profit of RM46.4 million, impacted by a foreign exchange loss of RM55.8 million. On a normalized basis, excluding this loss, TAAX would have recorded a net profit of RM102.2 million, up by 11% YoY. Operationally, TAAX saw a 51% YoY rise in the number of passengers, totaling 437,764 passengers, resulting in a strong Passenger Load Factor (PLF) of 89%, a one-percentage-point increase YoY. Showing robust market demand, TAAX’s seat capacity and Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) increased by 49% and 37% YoY, reaching 492,497 seats and 2,199 million, respectively. AirAsia X’s overall fleet size remained at 18 A330s as of March 2024, with 16 aircraft activated and operational. TAAX’s fleet comprised seven A330s, with one additional aircraft reactivated during the quarter, bringing its operational fleet to six aircraft. AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said, “We expect the two remaining aircraft to rejoin the operational fleet in July and November this year, while we work towards ensuring our fleet requirements for further growth in the future are secured. At present, we welcome the recent announcement of the extension of the visa-exemption policy to China until 2025; since the relaunch of routes to China, PLF in the country has been strong at about mid-90%, while all-new Almaty proved successful in Central Asia with over 90% PLF routinely trending since its launch. “Looking to the future, we are excited about the A321XLR aircraft on our orderbook, which will bring our growth ambitions to fruition, as it unlocks a range of up to nine hours with a reduced cost base compared to our current fleet. With its reduced capacity, the A321XLR gives greater flexibility for network planning and elevates even more second-tier pairing. This aircraft is expected to lower the break-even point for the airlines, ultimately boosting our margin. As it is, for 1Q24, our profit margin is robust at over 8%. “On FlyThru, connectivity stands at 22%, led by Australia and India, with synergies leveraged with the broader AirAsia Group more encouraging than ever. This paves the way for the Company’s strong future growth ambitions, ultimately leading to our ongoing engagement with Capital A Berhad (“Capital A”) for the proposed acquisition of Capital A’s aviation business, which is envisioned to establish an enlarged group of airlines with the ‘AirAsia’ brand as a global low-cost network carrier group, establishing elevated synergistic benefits through centralized decision-making and coordinated network plans. “In addition, the proposed acquisition provides all-important access to an orderbook with over 400 new specification aircraft deliveries that are currently under Capital A. This gives us unbounded expansion opportunities at a time when growth opportunities world over are limited due to bottlenecks in the supply chain which have, in turn, delayed aircraft delivery for us. “In the next two quarters, we are mindful that the Company is entering a traditionally softer travel period based on historical seasonality. However, we are encouraged by recent fare trends and cost structure, as we step up aircraft utilization to ensure that efficiency is top-tier.”
AirAsia X Delivers Strong Q1 2024 Financial Performance
