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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 20): As the Covid-19 pandemic hits the global aviation sector, AirAsia Group Bhd Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the budget airline has never had the need to apply for a government-backed loan in its 19 years of existence. operations, Financial times (FOOT) reported.
FOOTCiting Fernandes, he reported yesterday that the crisis has forced AirAsia Group to seek financial support from the Malaysian government for the first time.
“This is solely from Covid, where we lost a large part of our sales,” Fernandes said.
Last Tuesday (October 13) it was reported that Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) denied approving any government financing or guarantees to any airline in response to a report that AirAsia Group had obtained financial assistance from the government.
“The MoF would like to clarify that it has not approved any government funding or guarantees for any airline,” said an authorized MoF spokesperson.
the FOOT The report, quoting Fernandes, said he hopes AirAsia’s new super app, a unique travel, e-commerce and fintech platform, will be a route to better insulate the company from the shocks that airlines often take.
It was reported that the services delivered in the app will expand from Malaysia to the rest of Southeast Asia in the next three months.
“It is (the airlines) a cyclical business between volcanoes and tsunamis,” he said.
FOOT reported that Fernandes admitted that AirAsia Group could exit more markets.
The company was reported to have pulled out of Japan and its Indian airline, a joint venture with the Tata Group, has come under new scrutiny after reports that the Malaysian shareholder had stopped funding the Indian joint venture.
Fernandes was reported to have denied the claim.
“For our remaining five airlines, there may come a point where we may have to leave one, but that point will not. [arisen] yet, ”he said.
Fernandes was reported to have bought AirAsia for less than US $ 1 (about RM4,1462) in 2001 and made it one of the largest low-cost airlines in the region.
At the Bursa Malaysia hiatus at 12:30 pm today, AirAsia Group settled at 0.5 sen or 0.85% at 58 sen, bringing its market capitalization to approximately RM1.92 billion. The stock saw about 4.94 million shares traded.
Read also:
AirAsia is said to stop funding Indian companies as cash dwindles
AirAsia Japan ceases operations
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