Travellers may have more flight options as AirAsia looks to close aircraft deal with Airbus

Some other risk factors that could lead to increased cost are soaring crude prices which climbed to the highest this year on Thursday, and weaker Asian currencies against the US dollar. Mr Fernandes said that while there could be short-term peaks in jet fuel prices, both concerns are likely to taper off within the next two years.

CLASSIFICATION AND RESTRUCTURING

Capital A has been pivoting towards e-commerce and digital businesses, and wants non-airline operations to account for about 50 per cent of total revenues by 2026.

Mr Fernandes said its aircraft services business is doing well while its digital ventures are “far better than expected”, despite being branded a Practice Note 17 (PN17) firm. 

Malaysia’s stock exchange Bursa Malaysia in October 2021 placed the AirAsia Group on the PN17 list – a classification for companies in financial distress – over pandemic-led losses.

The firm said it has undertaken a broad range of measures to improve its financial position, including debt restructuring, share consolidation, and a revision of its business plan.

Mr Fernandes said the company’s financial audit has been clean, and hopes to exit the list soon so that it can restructure and resume its plans for New York listings.

AirAsia X, the firm’s medium- and long-haul arm, submitted an application to lift the status in July, while Capital A has put in its paper for consultation, with a full application expected imminently, he noted.

“We’re audited clean. We’re about to hopefully exit PN17 status, and that will enable us to start restructuring Capital A and listing various units in Capital A,” he said.