AirAsia cuts Q2 losses

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of Southeast Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier cut its net loss in the second quarter.

In a filing, AirAsia Berhad said Philippines AirAsia reduced by 31 percent its net loss to P539.1 million in the second quarter from P777 million in the same period last year.

The low-cost carrier generated P2.6 billion revenues in the second quarter, higher than the P2.3 billion in the same period in 2015.

“The increase in revenue can be attributed to higher passenger volumes which increased three percent year-on-year and the increase in average fare by 14 percent year-on-year,” AirAsia said.

While passengers carried by Philippines AirAsia rose in the second quarter from the same period last year, its capacity, on the other hand, declined nine percent year-on-year.

The airline’s seat load factor grew 11 percentage points to 91 percent as compared to the same quarter last year.

AirAsia expects Philippines AirAsia to turnaround its losses this year as it sees continued improvement in revenues.

Philippines AirAsia trimmed its net loss 46 percent to P3.09 billion in 2015 from P5.76 billion in 2014 amid higher revenues.

“PAA (Philippines AirAsia) remains on track with its turnaround plan to rationalize its fleet composition to further reduce its cost structure in the remaining quarters in 2016,” AirAsia said.

For the current quarter, the carrier is expected to have a load factor of 85 percent.