Friday, April 15, 2011

Malaysia's AirAsia says Q1 load factor at 81 pct

ATN
April 14, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia said it filled 81 percent of the space available for passengers in the first quarter, up seven percentage points from a year earlier, with high oil prices not having an impact on forward sales, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

“It’s been a good first quarter,” said Tony Fernandes.

“We have not seen any slow (down) in demand. In terms of the second quarter this year versus the second quarter last year, the forward sales still look quite strong,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the annual Invest Malaysia conference.

Fernandes also said Asia’s largest budget carrier by fleet size was on track to list its Thai and Indonesian units in the fourth quarter of 2011.

“They may list at the same time because they are reaching out to different sources of capital,” he said.

Asked if AirAsia planned to impose a fuel surcharge to offset high oil prices, he said: “Not at the moment (but) we’re not far away from where we have to put one (surcharge) in.”

Brent crude rebounded to above $122 on Wednesday, halting a two-day decline, on fears that the Libya conflict could settle into a bloody stalemate, while a sudden disruption in Kuwaiti oil exports boosted sentiment.

http://www.anytimesnews.com/2011/04/14/malaysias-airasia-says-q1-load-factor-at-81-pct

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