AirAsia Bhd posted a near-six-fold jump in quarterly profit on stronger demand and lower fuel costs, and forecast a further increase in passenger traffic for the rest of the year. First-quarter net profit at Asia's largest budget airline rose to 876.9 million ringgit ($215 million) from 149.3 million in the year-ago period. Revenue jumped 31 percent to 1.70 billion ringgit, it said on Thursday.
Load factor at its home base of Malaysia was 85 percent, 10 percentage points higher than the same period last year.
"In Malaysia, we are seeing robust demand despite the weaker consumer sentiment and domestic economy," AirAsia Group Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said in a statement. "We are off to a brilliant start in 2016 and foresee the momentum sustaining through the rest of the year."
AirAsia expects average load factor in Malaysia to grow to 88 percent in the second quarter.
Fernandes said demand from Chinese travellers has recovered, noting a 37 percent jump in the number of Chinese passengers flying into various points in Malaysia in the first quarter.
In India, AirAsia said it will remain focused on building a footprint in the domestic market with the introduction of new routes and frequency increases.
Comments
Comments are closed.