News
AirAsia Group reports US$1.2 billion 2020 loss but predicts “full recovery in two years”
March 30th 2021
AirAsia Group Berhad last night reported a 5.1 billion ringgit (US$1.2 billion) net loss for the 12 months to December 31, 2020 compared with a 316 million ringgit net loss in its 2019 fiscal year. Read More » Revenue went through the floor by 73.6%, to 3.1 billion ringgit.
AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, said there had been an encouraging "uptrend in our key domestic markets" at the start of 2021, which supported the company's expectation of an air travel recovery this year.
"We are pleased to be gradually ramping up our domestic operations in our key markets, which are concentrated on the most profitable and popular routes," Fernandes said in a statement. "We are actively exploring opportunities to gain market share, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia, recognising our strength in the ASEAN region.
“With vaccination programmes accelerating around the world, improved testing capabilities, the likely introduction of global digital health passports, formation of leisure travel bubbles in the region and contactless procedures already in place for AirAsia, we are very optimistic international air travel will resume in the second half of 2021, leading to our full recovery within the next two years."
The company posted a 2.4 billion ringgit net loss for the fourth quarter of calendar 2020, slumping deeper into the red from a net loss of 384.4 million ringgit a year earlier. Revenue dropped 91.7%, to 267.4 million ringgit, in the three months.
