Bangkok--22 Feb--AirAsia
Asia Aviation Plc. (AAV), major shareholder of Thai AirAsia Co. Ltd. (TAA) announces its operational results for the year 2017, which had a positive sentiment from tourism sector and an increase in number of Chinese tourists when compared to the same period of last year. For the fourth quarter of 2017 (Q4/2017), AAV had revenues from sales and services of Baht 9,711.2 million and net profit attributable to owners of the parent amounted to Baht 475.6 million, increased over 100% from the same period of last year, supported by the 22% growth in number of passenger carried at 5.34 million, which is higher than 13% growth in seat capacity. This has led to the load factor of 88%. Overall, the results of2017 was satisfactory with total revenues from sales and services of Baht 35,931.6 million, net profit of Baht 1,477.5 million with 19.82 million passengers carried and load factor average of 87 percent, up by 3 percentage points from the same period of last year. In 2017, TAA received 5 aircraft, totalling 56 aircraft at the end of the year.
Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Asia Aviation Plc. and Thai AirAsia, said that despite an increase in average global fuel price in 2017, efficient management allowed TAA to grow continuously. Throughout 2017, TAA inaugurated 16 new routes, focusing on inter-regional connections and secondary provinces in support of the overall tourism and government policy. However, in Q4/2017, TAA had revenues from sales and services amounted to Baht 9,711.2 million and a net profit of Baht 869.7 million, bringing the full year revenues to Baht 35,931.6 million and a net profit of Baht 2,687.8 million.
"In 2017, TAA continued to develop its services by using technological innovation such as the introduction of self baggage check-in at Don Mueang, Chiang Mai and Phuket airports in order to improve the cost effectiveness and the convenience of passengers, affirming the brand's 'Truly Low Fares, Trusted Quality' concept. TAA maintained its title of World's Best Low Cost Airline ranked by Skytrax for nine consecutive years, which has been a very proud achievement," Mr. Tassapon said.
For 2018, TAA is planning to acquire 7 more aircraft to bring its fleet to 63 aircraft. TAA aims to add more routes to the Indian and the Asean markets while maintaining its customer base in the Chinese market. This diversified strategy tends to minimise the risk of dependence on major customer base and to enhance the company's sustainable revenue growth in the future. TAA is confident it can end the year with a load factor average of 87 percent with a target of 23.2 million passengers served.