The low-cost airline from Malaysia AirAsia Group Bhd recorded huge losses due to lockdowns that occurred in various countries. Thus, it disruiptes airline operations and also affects the company’s performance.
However, AirAsia Group Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said there was still hope for AirAsia to recover within two years.
Tony admits he is optimistic that the international air travel business will return to normal in the second half of this year. Due to the massive vaccination program in various countries.
AirAsia’s net loss for the period October – December was recorded at US $ 590.72 million.
Quoting from Reuters, Air Asia’s revenue fell 92 percent to 267.4 million ringgit due to an 88 percent reduction in capacity. This is because there are no flights in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
“Most of these losses were due to interest depreciation and lease obligations of 654.2 million ringgit,” AirAsia wrote as quoted by Reuters, Tuesday (30/3/2021).
AirAsia’s Debt Increases Three Times
AirAsia’s Debt As of 31 December 2020 was recorded almost 3 times to 1.28 billion ringgit. Up from last year’s period of 428.9 million. Indeed, the number of passengers was recorded to have decreased by 90% compared to last year.
Now AirAsia is looking to raise 2.5 billion ringgit in funding as it tackles the pandemic. This weekend, he hopes to get a loan of 1 billion ringgit from banks in Malaysia.
As a result of this loss, AirAsia shares fell to 6.2% in the first trading session on the Malaysian stock exchange. Analyst Isaac Chow said that in 2022 AirAsia will still experience a net loss of up to 92 million ringgit. This is due to the potential for a slower recovery than projected international tourism.
AmInvestment Bank said AirAsia needed liquidity support to maintain its financial performance. This research institute said that the prospects for the air travel industry and airlines have begun to stretch.
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