UPDATE 1-AirAsia slashes Malaysia capacity recovery outlook

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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian budget airline
AirAsia Group Bhd AIRA.KL on Tuesday slashed its outlook for
its home market again although it expects a rebound in December.
While encouraged by a resumption of domestic travel in
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines during the three-month
period ended September 30, AirAsia said a spike in coronavirus
cases in Malaysia and subsequent curbs had led it to reduce
capacity in the country in October and November.
It halved its projected recovery rate in Malaysia to 31% of
its pre-COVID-19 capacity by the year end, after already
lowering it to 60% last month from 70-75% in August.
"There is a slight setback in Malaysia but we expect this to
be short-lived and to bounce strongly in December," CEO Tony
Fernandes said in a statement.
In Indonesia, it now expected be at 47% of pre-crisis
capacity, versus a previous projection of 45%.
AirAsia India is expected to operate at up to 67% of
pre-crisis capacity versus a previous projection of 65%.
For the Philippines, it expects to be at 13% of pre-COVID-19
levels, and maintained that its Thai operations are expected to
exceed pre-COVID-19 capacity levels.
Fernandes said the company had disposed of spare engines to
raise cash and is open to other potential monetisation
opportunities.
He said it foresees sufficient liquidity in 2021 and expects
air travel to bounce back mid-next year on hopes of the
formation of travel bubbles and green lanes.
"We have high hopes that with the availability and
accessibility of effective vaccines, AirAsia will soon paint the
skies red again," he said in a statement.
AirAsia Group reported its fifth consecutive quarterly loss
as the pandemic took its toll on travel in the third quarter.
It posted a net loss of 851.8 million ringgit ($209 million)
for July-September quarter versus a loss of 51.4 million a year
earlier.
Revenue fell 85.6% to 442.9 million ringgit.
AirAsia said it carried 1.9 million passengers in the third
quarter, down from 13 million a year earlier, dropping its load
factor measuring how full planes are by 18 percentage points to
66%.
($1 = 4.0850 ringgit)