Malaysia-based AirAsia, the region's biggest low-cost carrier by fleet size, said its first-quarter net profit climbed seven percent year-on-year due mainly to lower fuel and operating costs. Net profit for the quarter ending March 31 was 149.3 million ($40.8 million) the company said in a statement late Thursday, while revenue dipped 0.4 percent to 1.30 billion ringgit. "As seen in the first quarter of 2015, we are beneficiary of the low fuel price," Tony Fernandes, group CEO said in a statement.
AirAsia recorded a net profit of 139.7 million ringgit in the same period last year while it posted its first net loss (since 2008) of 429.4 million ringgit in the previous fourth quarter. AirAsia said total passengers carried during the period rose 3.0 percent to 5.5 million people year-on-year while average fuel price was 20 percent lower at $88 per barrel.
It is the carrier's first results following the crash of one of its planes in the Indonesian archipelago last December, with the loss of 162 lives. Flight QZ8501, operated by AirAsia's Jakarta-based affiliate, went down in the Java Sea en route to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya.
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