AirAsia X’s Post-Pandemic Strategy Focuses on Cost Containment and Fleet Expansion

Capital A’s long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X reported its return to black with a net profit of $71 million and a revenue of $119 million in the first quarter of 2023.  

The shareholders’ equity for the airline has also demonstrated a positive turnaround to $9 million, from a negative of $62 million in the preceding quarter. A positive development for the airline that’s due to file its regularization plan.

In April, the airline had requested stock exchange Bursa Malaysia for an additional three months to file its regularization plan.

Speaking to Skift earlier this year, Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia parent company Capital A, had said this year AirAsia X expects to exit the Practice Note 17 (PN17) status, which classifies it as a financially-distressed firm.

Last year, Capital A had also submitted plans for a corporate restructuring, to pull all its airlines under one existing structure as Fernandes stepped down as the acting group CEO of AirAsia X.

Recently, the company announced a proposed placement of shares with key institutional investors, potentially raising up to $11 million of new capital to bolster its short-term working capital requirements.

"This would help to strengthen the balance sheet as the company continues to recover and grow its operations in this post-pandemic era, primarily for the reactivation an