Fresh from reporting a third quarter loss of RM210.95 million, AirAsia X will cut back on flights to Australia after losses from its Australian operations quadrupled.
The long-haul arm of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group currently has up to two flights a day to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast from its Kuala Lumpur hub.
"Capacity allocation in 2015 will see a drop in the number of flights to Australia, while North Asia and other regions will see an increase in flights," the airline said, without disclosing which flights will get the chop.
CEO Azran Osman-Rani cited the ‘shock’ of the downing of MH17 and the ‘resultant demand slowdown’ as reasons for weak demand.
"In light of the changing market landscape in Malaysia where travel demand has softened and the industry capacity moderating, we see less need to continue expansion in our core Malaysian route network in 2015," Osman-Rani said.
He said the drop in global fuel prices will help steer the carrier in the right direction financially during the next quarter.
Overcapacity has severely affected the Australia market this year with both the Qantas Group and Virgin Australia posted big losses.
