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Following a temporary suspension of
operations as part of an extensive network
restructuring, in May AirAsia X Indonesia
launched new routes to Mumbai (India)
and Tokyo (Japan). Overall, the airline
performed well and even recorded a
profit in the third quarter before tourism
was affected by volcanic activity in Mt
Agung, prompting travel alerts by various
countries. For three days in November,
the airport in Bali was forced to shut
down. Although AirAsia X Indonesia’s
results were necessarily impacted, we are
confident of a relatively quick recovery,
especially with support from the newly
listed AirAsia Indonesia and the rest of the
AirAsia Group.
Having earned its stripes, AirAsia X will
be receiving six new aircraft in 2018
which will add a fillip to its capacity
expansion drive. Of these, three aircraft
will be delivered to Malaysia and the
remaining three to Thailand. Despite the
new aircraft, our sister airline intends to
maintain a utilisation rate of up to 16 hours
a day, either on new routes or increased
frequencies. Continuing its focus on North
Asia and India, it plans to carve more
routes into China and Japan while adding
frequency to existing routes in South
Korea.
With AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri (Dr) Tony
Fernandes partnering Datuk Kamarudin
Meranun as joint Group CEO beginning
January 2018, there will also be enhanced
focus on greater integration with the
AirAsia Group. This bodes well for both
AirAsia and AirAsia X, and we can expect
some amazing synergies to be created,
which will be highlighted in next year’s
report.
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AirAsia Group Berhad
BUSINESS REVIEW
137