KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, expects to end 2018 with a lower loss than last year.
“We have seen good quarterly traction in the year and we are expecting to finish 2018 by reducing the losses of the previous year,”
Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Izham Ismail said in a statement today.
“Moving forward, 2019 looks similarly challenging but we remain committed to improving performance and reducing costs whilst managing external factors beyond our control,” he added.
Izham said Malaysia Airlines had experienced a challenging third quarter with stiff competition, rising fuel prices and adverse foreign exchange movements, further exacerbated by crew shortages, especially in July and August.
“Yield came under pressure in quarter three. This was in part due to the inability to deploy planned peak up-grading of aircraft to a widebody during the period, as a result of crew shortages which impacted revenue,” he added.
The airline has since activated an extensive recruitment exercise, supported by an aggressive cadet enlistment and training programme to build a strong pipeline of crew and is confident that the situation will be stabilised by early 2019.
Its revenue average seat per kilometre (RASK) grew 1.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY). This was mainly driven by higher cargo revenue, which went up up 29 per cent YoY.
On-time performance (OTP) also increased during the quarter, up by eight per cent YoY, as a result of improved operational efficiencies in engineering and ground handling.
The airline’s passenger load factors rose three per cent during the quarter. Recovery in international business continued in the quarter with a load factor of 81.7 per cent in 2018 versus 78.4 per cent last year.
Malaysia Airllines added a sixth A330-200 to its fleet of 21 A330s. They are deployed on higher density regional routes across Asia Pacific.
“The B737-800s continue to provide domestic and regional connectivity while the airline prepares for delivery of 10 B737 MAX8 in 2020,” it said.
Malaysia Airlines became the country’s first airline and among only a small number globally, to launch on WhatsApp.
Customers can now receive their booking confirmation and flight status via the messaging app, with a view to expand the range of notifications delivered in 2019.
The airline also launched MHchat, a new feature designed to help travellers book flights, retrieve bookings and ask questions round the clock via Facebook Messenger.
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