Capital A CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes at a media briefing. KAMARUL ARIFFIN / TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: Capital A Bhd
shares rose to its highest in over three months yesterday, following the company’s proposal to merge its short and long-haul airline operations last Thursday.
At 5pm, the company closed 7.48% higher to 79 sen.
On April 25, Capital A announced its restructuring plan in its efforts to address its Practice Note 17 status.
Under the plan, Capital A proposed to dispose of AirAsia Bhd, which owns the Malaysian aviation operation, and AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd, which manages the Indonesian, Thai, Philippine and Cambodia operations, for RM6.8bil to long-haul unit AirAsia X Bhd (AAX).
AAG will acquire 100% of Malaysia AirAsia from Capital A for RM3.8bil but no cash will be exchanged. It will also acquire 43% of Thai AirAsia, 49% of Indonesia AirAsia, 100% of Philippines AirAsia and 51% of Cambodia AirAsia from Capital A for RM3bil via 2.3 billion new AAG shares at RM1.30 each.
AAX will then form a “New ListCo” called AirAsia Group (AAG), transferring its listing status to it.
Prior to the asset disposals to AAX, a proposed 223.5 million free warrants in AAG will be issued, based on one AAG warrant for every two AAG shares held by existing AAX shareholders.
Separately, Capital A announced that AAX posted a solid passenger load factor (PLF) of 83%, an increase of three percentage points year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24).
“AAX saw a 90% y-o-y increase in passengers to 959,623, surpassing the growth in available seats per kilometre (ASK) capacity, driven by higher travel demand during peak periods like festive seasons and school holidays,” it said in a statement.
In terms of network, AirAsia X Malaysia launched its maiden flight to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March 2024 in its quest to enter Central Asia, starting with four times weekly flights.
The carrier also increased flight frequencies on popular routes in China such as Chengdu (seven times per week), Beijing (seven times per week) and Shanghai (11 times per week), along with increasing Bali, Indonesia, flights to nine times per week.
This effectively contributed to the 85% y-o-y increase in the company’s number of stages to 3,184 in 1Q24.
Its associate, AAX Thailand, recorded a PLF of 89%, marginally up by one percentage point, driven by a 51% growth y-o-y in the number of passengers carried to 437,764 during the quarter under review.
In line with the reactivation of one aircraft into its operational fleet in 1Q24, AirAsia X Thailand reported an increase of 50% y-o-y in the number of sectors flown to 1,329, while its ASK capacity grew by over 37% y-o-y to 2,199 million during the quarter.
As of end-March, AAX’s fleet comprises 18 A330s, with 16 aircraft activated and in operation.
AAX Thailand’s fleet size, on the other hand, stood at seven A330s, with six aircraft activated and operational.
