AirAsia X Files To Shed PN17 Shackles As A330s Take Off

By focusing on its core business AirAsia X has righted the ship and wants to remove the asterisk from its name.

No airline wants to operate with a virtual asterisk against its name, which is why AirAsia X is keen to shed the Malaysia Stock Exchange Practice Note 17 advisory now attached to the carrier. On Friday, the airline announced it was seeking to have the classification removed from its listing.

AirAsia X (AAX) said it was seeking relief from Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Securities) to exempt the airline from the requirement to submit a Proposed Regularisation Plan. The plan is required under the Main Market Listing regulations of Malaysia's stock exchange. Subsequently, AAX wants its classification as a Practice Note 17 Affected Issuer, which was triggered in July 2020, lifted.

In Friday's announcement, AAX said it had undertaken a broad range of measures and corporate exercises to improve its financial position since then. These measures included a debt restructuring scheme, a share capital reduction of 99.9% of the issued capital of AAX, share consolidation, and a revision of its business plan.

On its revised business plan, AAX basically said that it had gone back to basics by adopting a strategy and structure that would deliver profits. It said it had adopted a leaner and more viable cost structure with a primary focus on medium-haul flight operations, a rationalized network plan which terminated unprofitable routes, and a refocus on routes with proven loads and yields in core markets. AAX CEO Benyamin Ismail said:

"The restructuring exercises that we have undertaken in the past couple of years allowed us to transform and reset AAX towards a more sound and viable financial position. Since our emergence from hibernation back in April 2022, we are pleased to share that AAX's operational and financial performances have been improving in line with increasing demand that we observe across all our core markets."

Aircraft information from ch-aviation.com shows that AirAsia X has a fleet of 15 Airbus A330-300s, with an average age of 12.2 years. The data list eleven aircraft as in operation, one in maintenance, and three stored. Most of the A330s are configured in a two-class layout of 377 seats, with 12 in business class and 365 in the economy cabin. The listing also shows orders with Airbus for 20 A321XLRs, one A330-300, and 15 A330-900neos.

As part of its restructuring, AAX has also deferred all investments in new and immature routes, apart from restructuring all of its contracts and arrangements relating to its fleet and operations to better align to its future size and requirements. In what it describes as its "right-sizing strategy," AAX has consolidated manpower to ensure "its workforce is strictly aligned with its operational requirements."

Business has been good with the A330s flying, with passenger loads of 73%, 79%, and 80% for the quarters ending September 2022, December 2022, and March 2023. All of these adjustments and results have seen AAX go from 12 quarters of losses since the quarter ended June 30th, 2019, to three consecutive quarters of net profits (ending September 2022 - March 2023) and reporting positive shareholders' equity as of March 31st, 2023.

Source: ch-aviation.com

Journalist - A professional aviation journalist writing across the industry spectrum. Michael uses his MBA and corporate business experience to go behind the obvious in search of the real story. A strong network of senior aviation contacts mixed with a boyhood passion for airplanes helps him share engaging content with fellow devotees. Based in Melbourne, Australia.