Bangkok--25 Feb--Asia Aviation
AAV Announces 2014 performance with Net Profit of Baht 183 Million, Total Revenue of Baht 25,356 Million Satisfactory Carried of 12.2 Million Passenger in the Face of Impacting External Factors
Ready for Full Advance in 2015 with Focus on Increasing Flight Frequencies and Adding Domestic Routes
Asia Aviation Plc. (AAV) reveals its returns for 2014 from Thai AirAsia (TAA), indicating that in spite of political impacts to the tourism sector, Q4/2014 still saw a Net Profit of Baht 430 Million from Total Revenue of Baht 7,876 Million with the average Load Factor holding steady at 79 percent and total passenger numbers up 16 percent year on year at 3.4 million. Overall in 2014, AAV achieved a Net Profit of Baht 183 Million from Total Revenue of Baht 25,356 million, a Load Factor average of 80 percent and 12.2 million passengers carried.
Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Asia Aviation Plc. and Thai AirAsia the leader in low fare air travel, remarked that in 2014 the tourism was heavily affected by overall factors, necessitating harder work from the company in terms of capital management and finding new revenue streams. Nonetheless, in Q4/2014, TAA achieved Total Revenue of Baht 7,876 Million and a Net Profit of Baht 790 Million, up 92 percent. The company ended the year with Total Revenue of Baht 25,356 Million and a Net Profit of Baht 335 Million, down 83 percent.
“Over the past year, Thai AirAsia was made to adapt its business plan to the circumstances that arose. The carrier completed its fleet of 40 Airbus A320 aircraft by year end, added 3 new routes; Bangkok-Sakon Nakhon, Chiang Mai-Surat Thani and Krabi-Guangzhou and increased flight frequency on 2 popular routes; Chiang Mai-Krabi (now flying 2 times daily) and Bangkok-Siem Reap (now flying 3 times daily). While the average Load Factor of 80 percent was down 3 percentage points from 2013, the total amount of passengers carried was 12.2 million people, 16 percent more than the 10.5 million carried in 2013” Mr. Tassapon explained.
In 2014, Thai AirAsia was able to adapt and create new strategies for operation under the circumstances present. The airline extended its Fly Thru service at Don Mueang Airport to be more expansive and connected it to Thai AirAsia X, a low fare long haul air carrier that flies to South Korea and Japan. The addition attracted new tourist segments to Thai AirAsia. The carrier also opened its fourth flight hub in Krabi province, adding to existing hubs in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai and allowing for more connections both domestically and internationally. The new brand concept “Truly Low Fares, Trusted Quality” was also launched to highlight the airline’s strengths beyond low fares, which include its on-time performance record and quality service.
For 2015, Mr. Tassapon has evaluated that AAV will certainly return to targeted growth as the overall political and tourism situation has been improved. The airline is scheduled to induct 5 new aircraft in 2015 and has targeted launching of new domestic routes in Q1/2015, namely; direct flights from Bangkok to Nan, Loei and Roi Et, each 2 flights daily. Flight frequencies will also be continually increased under strong management. Thai AirAsia has set its 2015 passenger target at 14.5 million people with 83 percent of load factor.