KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia Airlines said Friday that it did not foresee the group to break even this year, although its revenue improved two percent year-on-year in the first quarter ended March 31.
The national carrier's chief executive officer Izham Ismail said in a statement that he expects the full year to remain extremely challenging due to overcapacity.
"The competitive environment is expected to continue to tighten in 2019, driven by overcapacity in the region as well as domestic," he said, adding that the price-sensitive leisure market would directly impact the group's yield.
While the airline has hedged against fuel and foreign exchange, he said the group's performance would continue to be impacted by external volatility including the on-going global trade war.
The group saw an improvement in its first quarter operational performance, on the back of increased available seat kilometres driven by eight percent increase in domestic and international capacity.
Its load factor was unchanged at 75.2 percent attributed to aggressive sales initiatives amid softer market.
Its yield also grew marginally, supported by the added capacity and a positive passenger growth of five percent.
Meanwhile, the group's ancillary revenue surged 23 percent year-on-year, driven by its initiatives and competitive pricing.
"Our key focus remains to continue driving revenue improvements through enhanced product and service offerings focusing on what our passengers' value, while driving cost optimisation," said Izham Ismail.
Looking ahead, he said, the group's forward booking looks much stronger compared to last year as the airline continues to strengthen its sales channels including travel trade partners and build on existing products.
