Thai AirAsia Expects A Modest Profit For 2014

6th Jan 2015

The anemic revenue performance of the airline is primarily blamed on the political unrest that hampered its operations for a little over six months. The crisis started in November 2013 until late May 2014, when the sitting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was ousted.

The low-cost carrier has announced recently that its immediate plans for the coming year are to focus on the domestic operations to recoup its losses from its international operations.

The airline CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld, stated that most local airlines experienced the same during the crisis, as many countries issued travel advisories to its citizens against unnecessary travel to Thailand that greatly affected their international operations.

The carrier has already downgraded its projection for this year's overall passenger load, from 13.6 million to 12.1 million. It has projected its load factor to decline this year from 83% down to 80%. It has carried about 10.3 million passengers in 2013.

Thai AirAsia also disclosed that despite the increase of seat capacity as it added 5 new aircraft this year, its passenger load grew only 16%, which is 4% shy of the airline's annual growth.

Tourism Authority of Thailand has also lowered its projected volume of international visitors this year, from 25.5 million down to 24.6 million.

The airline executive blamed the country's latest political crisis for the decline as most of its biggest source market like China, Singapore, and Hong Kong issued travel warnings to its citizens during the early stage of the crisis, until the Thai interim government lifted the martial law.

The low-cost affiliate will focus on its domestic operations next year, as it plans to launch three new routes from its hub in Don Mueang Airport. The three routes to be launched next year include Nan, Loei and Roi Et and each will get a twice-daily frequency. Introductory ticket promo is already on sale for as low as THB333 each way.

The budget carrier is also mulling to add more destinations to its growing domestic network which include Buri Ram, Chumphon, Mae Sot, and Ranong.

It is also planning to launch new routes such as Chiang Mai-Hong Kong, Chiang Mai-Surat Thani, and Krabi-Guangzhou.

Thai AirAsia expects to take delivery of five more aircraft next year, which will bring its fleet to a total of 45 all-A320 aircraft.

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