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Always championing local heroes, in
May 2017, AirAsia Philippines unveiled
a new livery featuring the logo of a
successful home-grown hypermarket.
The word ‘PUREGOLD’ is now emblazoned
prominently on two of its aircraft,
advertising the eponymous retail brand.
Although this marks a symbiotic business
arrangement between our associate and
Puregold Price Club Inc, it is also symbolic
given that, in 2017, AirAsia Philippines
truly struck gold.
After years of legal and corporate
wrangling following the acquisition
of a local airline; struggles for slots in
overstretched airports; replacing its
inherited fleet with new Airbus A320
aircraft that has become the standard
throughout AirAsia, our associate in the
Philippines has finally been able to settle
down and focus all its attention on the
business of flying, and is doing this so well
that the year’s results have been nothing
short of remarkable.
During the year, it welcomed three new
Airbus A320 aircraft, and immediately put
them to good use, supporting significant
network expansion. No less than 13
new routes have been introduced, all of
which are performing well. Together with
existing routes, they have enabled AirAsia
Philippines to maintain its high load factor
of 87% while growing the number of
guests carried by 32%, from 3.99 million
in 2016 to 5.28 million. In total, AirAsia
Philippines’ available seat kilometres
(ASK) grew by a significant 37% while
high demand meant it could maintain its
fares thus achieve an equally significant
increase in revenue per kilometre (RPK),
of 38%.
Together, these positively encouraging
figures led to a record revenue of
PHP15.93 billion and a net operating profit
of PHP686.4 million. Despite several one-
off costs, AirAsia Philippines also managed
to pull together a healthy net profit of
PHP378.2 million. Revenue from ancillary
services contributed to the increase in
revenue, with the new pricing structure
for baggage allowance and seat selection
adding significantly to this income stream.
Most of AirAsia Philippines’ new capacity
was directed at building skybridges
between domestic destinations, further
strengthening its positioning as the
leisure airline connecting people to
beautiful places in the Philippines. In an
archipelago of more than 7,500 islands,
there are a multitude of stunning locations
in the country that only a few have heard
about, or indeed have access to. AirAsia
Philippines has made it its mission to
open up as many of these destinations
as possible. When Caticlan Airport in
Malay (in the province of Aklan) was
upgraded to accommodate bigger aircraft,
it immediately secured slots to fly to this
scenic spot on the north-western coast of
the Visayas. On 15 March, the inaugural
flight to Caticlan from Manila took off
with a full load. This was followed by the
launch on 22 April of flights from Kalibo
and Davao to Caticlan; and on
15 December, flights from Clark.
The year also saw AirAsia Philippines
provide direct access to Boracay, Palawan
and Davao from Cebu, enabling local
and foreign tourists arriving in Cebu to
fly straight to the country’s best island
destinations without having to go through
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Going for Gold
NET PROFIT
PHP 378.2
MILLION
REVENUE
PHP 15.9
BILLION
[ ]
AirAsia Group Berhad
BUSINESS REVIEW
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