AirAsia to resume Airbus A321neo deliveries in 2024 as growth returns
보링엄 에어아시아 항공그룹 회장은 “8월 현재 총 108대의 운항 항공기가 하늘로 돌아왔고 이는 강하고 증가하는 소비자 수요를 지원하기 위해 올해 말까지 160대로 증가할 것으로 예상된다”며 2023년 2분기까지 전면 운항 복귀가 기대된다고 덧붙였습니다. 자본 A는 6월 30일에 마감된 3개월 동안 4억 9천 1백 3십만 링깃의 영업 손실을 기록했는데, 이는 1년 전의 7억 9천 2십만 링깃의 손실과 비교됩니다. 링엄은 미국 달러에 대한 통화 약세와 항공기 운항을 재개하는 데 필요한 높은 유지 비용의 조합이 항공 사업을 수익성으로 되돌리는 과정을 “약간 연장”시켰다고 말했습니다. 이 회사는 지난 달 좌석 수를 나타내는 항공사 부하율이 2분기에 전염병 이전 수준과 유사한 84%로 증가했다고 발표했습니다. 자본 A는 6월에 말레이시아 증권거래소에 의해 재정적으로 어려움을 겪고 있는 회사로서의 분류를 떨쳐버릴 것처럼 보이기 때문에 계획된 미국 상장을 위한 자금 조달 옵션을 평가하고 있다고 말했습니다. ($1 = 4.4650 링깃) (시드니의 제이미 프리드 및 벵갈루루의 테자스위 마르티 보고, Shailesh Kuber 및 Cynthia Ostman 편집) googletag.display(기능 {googletag.display(‘s-dfp-tag-1zA’); });
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By Jamie Freed
Aug 26 (Reuters) – Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia plans to resume deliveries of 362 Airbus SE AIR.PA A321neos remaining on order starting in 2024, the chief executive of parent Capital A Bhd CAPI.KL said, having postponed the arrivals during the pandemic.
The airline, one of Airbus’ biggest customers, had only taken four A321neos before COVID-19 decimated air travel. It last year agreed with Airbus to restructure the order with deliveries due through 2035, though it had not provided a start date for the resumption at that time.
“We will…be taking delivery of the new Airbus A321neos from 2024, which will further reduce our emissions per seat by 20% while further driving our business growth,” Capital A Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said in a statement late on Friday after the group posted a narrower second-quarter operating loss.
The airline said it operated 65 planes during the quarter ended June 30, up from just 15 a year earlier when there were lockdowns and widespread border closures throughout Southeast Asia.
“As of August, a total of 108 operating aircraft have returned to the skies and this is expected to increase to 160 by the end of this year to support strong and growing consumer demand,” AirAsia Aviation Group Chief Executive Bo Lingam said, adding a return to full operations was expected by the second quarter of 2023.
Capital A posted an operating loss of 491.3 million ringgit ($110.03 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared to a loss of 792.2 million ringgit in the year-ago period.
Lingam said the combination of weaker currencies against the U.S. dollar and higher maintenance costs required to bring airplanes back into service had “slightly prolonged” the process of returning the aviation business to profitability.
The company last month reported its airline load factor, a measure of the percentage of seats filled, rose to 84% in the second quarter, similar to pre-pandemic levels.
Capital A said in June it was evaluating fundraising options for a planned U.S. listing, as it looks to shake off its classification as a financially distressed firm by Malaysia’s stock exchange.
($1 = 4.4650 ringgit)
(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney and Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Cynthia Osterman)
((Jamie.Freed@thomsonreuters.com;))