Budget airline AirAsia Philippines posted a profit in first quarter of the year as it expanded capacity amid high demand.
Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad said its Philippine unit recorded a net income of P425 million, up 12 percent, as revenue rose by 27 percent.
The company said the performance put AirAsia Philippines and other regional units on track to end 2019 with a profit. AirAsia Philippines booked a P2.94-billion loss in 2018 on higher jet fuel expenses.
AirAsia Philippines has been expanding aggressively, widening its route network and increasing its fleet of mid-range Airbus A320s for domestic and regional flights.
Meanwhile, it has moved to contain costs and boost yields, with revenue per available seat up 3 percent from January to March this year.
Air Asia Philippines’ load factor, which measures the occupancy of flights, was up 4 percentage points to 91 percent—the highest among the AirAsia network that includes units in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Japan.
The strong demand came as AirAsia maintained competitive fares after refusing to increase ticket prices even after the Philippine government allowed carriers to impose a fuel surcharge starting the fourth quarter of 2018 to help them recover from increasing jet fuel prices.
AirAsia Philippines ended the first quarter of the year with a domestic market share of 18 percent, down 1 percentage point as rivals Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific also ramped up operations and increased capacity.
It earlier announced that it ended the first quarter with 23 Airbus A320s, up from 21 planes during the same period in 2018.
AirAsia Philippines was established in 2012 with a fleet of two A320s operating out of Clark International Airport. It also established hubs in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Mactan Cebu International Airport.
Its international destinations from Manila include Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Bangkok, Bali, Seoul, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau and Ho Chi Minh City.