AirAsia Group of Malaysia recently said that its net loss for the third quarter widened year-on-year due to the depreciation of right-of-use assets and lower travel demand.

Net loss of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group grows in Q3 (Photo: Reuters)

The Xinhua news agency quoted AirAsia as reporting that its net loss for the three months through September was 851.78 million MYR (208.39 million USD) compared with a 51.44-million MYR loss a year ago.

Its revenue plunged 85.6 percent to 442.91 million MYR, from 3.07 billion MYR.

It also recognised a significant 663.1 million MYR depreciation of right-of-use assets and lease interest costs.

For the nine months, AirAsia Group posted a net loss of 2.66 billion MYR versus a net profit of 80.72 million MYR in the same period last year. The revenue slumped 68.4 percent to 2.87 billion MYR from 9.09 billion MYR.

However, President (Airlines) of AirAsia Group Bo Lingam still expressed confidence in the firm’s ability to overcome these challenges and emerge stronger next year.

While the company is hopeful that lockdowns and border restrictions will soon be lifted, it is prepared to maintain sustainable operations solely on the back of domestic sectors into 2021 if restrictions remain, he said.

AirAsia Group foresees further formations of travel bubbles among ASEAN countries which would boost its operations given a strong foothold and dominance in the region.

Source: VNA