Published October 6, 2008

AirAsia non-committal on report that it's delisting

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(KUALA LUMPUR) AirAsia, the region's largest low-cost carrier, said on Saturday that it is exploring 'various options', following a newspaper report that it may soon be privatised.

'We have continuously been exploring various options at both shareholders and company level,' Kamarudin Meranum, group deputy chief executive officer told AFP. 'There is nothing to confirm at the moment,' he said in response to the report in business newspaper The Edge.

'(AirAsia) has generated a lot of interest but there has always been scepticism about its business model from investors looking at short-term returns,' the weekly cited an unnamed source as saying.

Mr Kamarudin said that the management was focused on ensuring the carrier, a listed company, remained profitable during challenging times. 'We are the controlling shareholders. We still feel the company has a lot of potential. We are a fairly young carrier,' he said.

AirAsia had room to expand and was concentrating on building infrastructure to ensure growth and profit, he added. But Mr Kamarudin said that since AirAsia was listed, 'we must be cautious of any statements we make in relation to any development within the company'.

AirAsia's controlling shareholder is Tune Air Sdn Bhd, which held 30.7 per cent of its shares as at end-March this year.



Tune Air's shareholders are AirAsia chief executive officer Tony Fernandes and Mr Kamarudin himself.

Global airlines are expected to post a combined loss of US$5.2 billion in 2008 on a 'toxic' combination of high oil prices and falling demand, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) warned last month.

Passenger load factors - the ratio of arriving and departing passengers to arriving and departing seats - fell to 79.2 per cent from the 81 per cent recorded over the same period last year as capacity growth outpaced demand, it said.

Since the beginning of the year, AirAsia shares have lost 23 per cent while the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 30 per cent. -- AFP