There’s no end in sight to the high airfares that are a mainstay of the world’s post-pandemic travel boom, according to Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier.
Travelers may see a little reprieve next year as jet fuel prices decline and the airline’s flight capacity rises, said AirAsia Aviation Chief Executive Officer <-bsp-person state=”{“_id”:”00000190-4790-d497-a7fb-ef9d87880000″,”_type”:”00000160-6f41-dae1-adf0-6ff519590003″}”>Bo Lingam-bsp-person>, who will <-bsp-bb-link state=”{“bbDocId”:”SCJ12ZT0AFB4″,”_id”:”00000190-4790-d497-a7fb-ef9d87880001″,”_type”:”0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000″}”>head-bsp-bb-link> a new listed entity called AirAsia Group following a <-bsp-bb-link state=”{“bbDocId”:”SCHM5WT0AFB4″,”_id”:”00000190-4790-d497-a7fb-ef9d87880002″,”_type”:”0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000″}”>merger-bsp-bb-link> between the company’s short and long haul operations in September. But strong demand means airfares are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels any time soon, he said.
Bo Lingam
Photographer: KG Krishnan/Bloomberg
“My load factor is around 90% …
