PETALING JAYA: As ticket bookings increase, AirAsia Group Bhd expects its sales momentum to continue into the fourth quarter of 2021, driven by pent-up leisure travel demand.

       Similarly, the financially-struggling company’s cashburn from operations is also expected to continue reducing in the final three months of the year.

       “As part of its transformation journey to be more than an aviation group, AirAsia is nearing completion of its restructuring of the distinct business pillars within the group with independent management.

       “Other than the aviation industry, we are seeing traction in our aircraft engineering maintenance business under Asia Digital Engineering, cargo and last mile deliveries under Teleport, airasia superapp and Bigpay,” AirAsia said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

       In the third quarter ended Sept 30, AirAsia’s net loss widened year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM887mil from RM851.78mil in the previous corresponding quarter.

       Revenue dropped by almost 37% y-o-y to RM295.89mil.

       The lower turnover was a result of the flight restrictions in Malaysia and Indonesia, which resulted in the decrease in passengers carried by 91% and 79% respectively.

       However, the lower airline revenue was cushioned by Teleport’s revenue in the third quarter of financial year 2021, which had tripled its revenue as compared to the same period last year.

       Teleport, which is AirAsia’s logistics outfit, contributed 53% of the group’s revenue in the third quarter of financial year 2021.

       “The group continues with its cost containment measures, including the right-sizing of manpower and salary cuts for management, staff and directors, while actively managing its capacity to be in line with demand for the aviation segment.

       “However, the group scaled up its business in superapp and Teleport, resulting in a widening of losses as a result of investment in technology, talent and network,” it said.

       Losses per share for the latest third quarter was at 22.8 sen per share. No dividend was declared for the quarter.

       Cumulatively, for the first nine months of financial year 2021, AirAsia’s net loss declined by 15.88% y-o-y to RM2.23bil, from RM2.66bil in the previous corresponding period.

       Revenue, on the other hand, dropped by almost 66% y-o-y to RM1.02bil from RM2.97bil. Despite the drop in revenue, AirAsia managed to slash its losses as a result of reduced operating expenses.

       Commenting on its performance, AirAsia said its airline business has emerged as a leaner and more optimised operation.

       Its aircraft engineering maintenance business, although still in the first year of operations, has been able to provide faster turnaround time for maintenance checks for aircraft.

       According to AirAsia, this is much needed as travel picks up and airlines are reactivating aircraft that were in hibernation.

       Meanwhile, the AirAsia superapp has expanded its offerings beyond the travel segment, with AirAsia food expanding its offerings to Singapore, Johor Bahru, Malacca, Kota Kinabalu, Penang and Bangkok, and other offerings such as AirAsia rides and travel mall.

       “BigPay has also applied for a digital banking licence in Malaysia with a consortium of strategic partners.

       “Teleport is focusing on building out a reliable cargo network and a 24-hour delivery end-to-end infrastructure with the conversion of two A320 passenger aircraft as cargo-only planes and leased one freighter aircraft.

       “Teleport is also currently working on leasing another two freighter aircraft targeted to be made available in the third quarter of 2022,” it said.