Worse Than Garuda Indonesia, AirAsia Turns Out To Be More Destroyed Due To Loss Of IDR 84 Trillion In Semester I 2021

AirAsia planes. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The loss experienced by the national airline, PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk (GIAA) turned out to be nothing compared to that experienced by AirAsia X Bhd (AIRX.KL). The Malaysian airline recorded a loss of 5.9 billion US dollars or around Rp. 84.07 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,250 per US dollar) in the first semester of 2021.

The number of AirAsia losses increased 8 times compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk recorded a loss of US$898.65 million or equivalent to Rp12.8 trillion in the first semester of 2021.

Quoted from Reuters, Monday, September 27, AirAsia's losses were caused by soaring operating expenses, especially from provisions. Last quarter's performance also indicated that the airline, which is an affiliate of AirAsia Group Bhd, had lost nine times in a row.

During April-June, the company bore a provision fee of 23.8 billion ringgit to creditors for defaulting on the terms of the contract. In the same period, airline revenue fell 20.9 percent to 72.3 million ringgit.

AirAsia itself stated that the impact of the provision fee was only temporary. Management Contractual obligations that give rise to provisions will be released upon successful completion of the debt restructuring proposal.

To reduce the burden, AirAsia plans to reduce its operating fleet and return excess aircraft to lessors. To date, the airline has returned one aircraft and is in discussions with other aircraft lessors to find the optimal fleet size.

In addition, discussions to reduce rental rates in the future are still ongoing, as are talks with other service providers to reduce maintenance costs.