KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Bhd's net profit dropped to RM4.8 million in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24), down 13 per cent from RM5.5 million in the same quarter last year.
The company's revenue, however, grew 30.4 per cent, reaching RM669.1 million, up from RM512.9 million a year earlier, driven by strong demand in key markets as it expanded its operational capacity to 16 aircraft.
During the quarter, the number of passengers carried increased 42 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to over 880,000, surpassing the 30 per cent YoY growth in seat capacity.
The passenger load factor (PLF) improved to 83 per cent, up seven percentage points YoY, with load factors on high-demand routes to China, India and Japan nearing 90 per cent.
Ancillary revenue rose by over 48 per cent YoY to RM218.2 million, boosted by the higher number of passengers and a 5.0 per cent YoY increase in ancillary revenue per passenger to RM248 per passenger.
"This was driven by the continuous improvements and fine-tuning of various products and services and improved utilisation of data, including enhancements in the customer personalisation strategy and booking flow, as well as continual evolution to meet the latest trends of food and beverages (F&B) served inflight by Santan," it said.
AirAsia X chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail said the airline expected its last two aircraft to return to service by the second half of the year.
"This is estimated to deliver further upside to our bottom line, further driven by the appreciation of the ringgit and lower jet fuel prices.
"AirAsia X's network realignment and advancement for the past six months are on track, as we launched Almaty in Kazakhstan and ramped up additional capacity to many key destinations including China," he said.