In the news: Tech start-up reports good sales, AirAsia’s head honcho Tony Fernandes squashes acquisition speculation, positive financial results for Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia

Strong showing for The Luxe Nomad, an all-girl tech start-up

TheLuxeNomad.com, a new online luxury hotel booking portal comprising six women based all over Asia, reported good sales since the launch of its beta site in July. it attributed the positive response to the growing popularity of oniine booking and on being different.

The company tripled its sales and database numbers by the third month of operations, with a single booking at over US$40,000.

“Despite the short time that we’ve been in the game we’ve received positive feedback and had a very encouraging first quarter,” said Stephanie Chai, founder and CEO of TheLuxeNomad.com (pictured left).

She added TheLuxeNomad.com is one of the first luxury portals in Asia to offer weekly flash sales at up to 70% off. The handpicked four and five star properties are available for a limited time only, usually seven to 14 days.

“Travelling is no longer about getting from A to B. People want an experience. But with today’s economy that isn’t always so easy. Through TheLuxeNomad.com we give members the chance to travel in style at a fraction of the price,” said Alena Couzet, its director of sales and marketing.

The luxury travel portal adds a touch of glamour to online bookings by appointing Asian celebrities as curators to review partner hotels and share insider tips with members.Through such collaboration it hopes to engage both their social media platforms and traditional media to create a greater reach and target a wider audience.

“In Asia-Pacific alone only 25% of all travel bookings are made online. In more mature markets, such as the United States, this rate is over 50%, signalling an incredible growth opportunity,” added Chai.

On the all-girl outfit she said it was not intentional. “We realised that women are key drivers of online sales. It is often the wives, girlfriends and mothers who are doing travel research and booking online. What better way to understand your consumer than to be one yourself?”

AirAsia not buying stake in India’s SpiceJet, says Tony Fernandes

In the face of recent widespread media reports that AirAsia, Asia’s largest low cost carrier, is planning to acquire a share in India based ailing SpiceJet, the airline has issued a terse statement to reject such speculations.

It reads: AirAsia would like to enlighten the public and its shareholders on the speculation that has been actively spreading in regards to the purchase of an Indian budget carrier. It quoted Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (pictured left), AirAsia group chief executive officer, as saying: “AirAsia rejects the speculation surrounding our possible expansion in India. These reports are completely incorrect. AirAsia has not submitted a bid for the Indian budget carrier, and has no intention of doing so.”

Media reports from India had quoted an unnamed government source as saying that loss-making carriers SpiceJet and Jet Airways were  in talks with AirAsia and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, respectively, to sell minority stakes.

India changed its rules in September to allow foreign carriers to buy stakes of up to 49% in local airlines making such a scenario possible.

AirAsia had said then it had no immediate plans to enter the Indian market because aviation due to the high fuel taxes and airport charges.

SpiceJet, which has a fleet of 48 planes, is India’s fourth largest airline by domestic market share. It had said in a statement that some foreign investors have expressed interests to pick up a stake in the company, but did not disclose details

Profit for Malaysia Airlines after six quarters of losses

After six quarters of financial losses Malaysia Airlines recorded a small operating profit of RM4 million (US$1.31 million) and a net income after tax (NIAT) of RM37 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012.

The operating profit and NIAT for the third quarter compared favourably against an operating loss of RM192 million and a loss after tax of RM478 million in the same period in 2011, the airline said in a statement.

It added that profit achieved in this quarter was its best performance to date following six consecutive quarters of losses.

Profit before tax was RM39.10 million a 
reversal from the pre-tax loss of RM461.54 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

However, revenue declined to RM3.47 billion from RM3.56 billion.

The improvement in performance quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) at the operating level was mainly due to the Route Rationalisation Programme, which saw a 7% reduction in Available Seat Kilometre (ASK). This resulted in a 9% decrease in fuel costs and a 7% decrease in non-fuel costs in line with capacity cuts.

MAS said fuel spending, which accounted for 38% of its expenditure, fell to RM1.3 billion for the quarter following a 9% drop in consumption.

For the third quarter of 2012 the airline carried 3.3 million passengers, while yields improved 3% q-o-q,

For the nine months of 2012 MAS’ pre-tax loss dropped to RM477.96 million from RM1.21 billion in the same period last year. Group operating loss was RM405 million compared to a loss of RM975 million in 2011.

Net loss after tax for the same period improved 61% to RM484 million against a loss of RM1.247 billion in the same period previously.

MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the encouraging quarterly results was a result of revenue initiatives starting to gain traction in the market, combined with the improved utilisation of the fleet and manpower.

Looking ahead, he said the airline’s focus is to increase revenue and manage costs.

Strong growth for AirAsia X in Q3 2012

AirAsia X, the long-haul low cost affiliate of AirAsia Bhd, recorded strong growth again in the third quarter of 2012, carrying 0.64 million passengers – a 40.7% increase over the same quarter in 2011 for its 12 destinations globally.

Available Seat Kilometre (ASK) was 3.9 billion and Revenue Passenger Kilometrems (RPK) was 3.2 billion for the same quarter. Load factor was 83%, an increase of 3.3% over the same period in 2011 (80%).

All the routes, which the airline has operated for over a year, have yielded a positive increase in load factor over this time period.

For the first nine months of 2012 the airline carried a total of 1.91 million passengers, an increase of 1.7% from the same quarter last year. Although RPK and ASK have contracted by 2.8% and 5.3%, respectively, in comparison with 2011, the company has recorded a higher load factor of 84%, an increase of 4.5%.

Azran Osman-Rani, AirAsia X CEO, said the airline would continue to focus on increasing capacity in its identified core markets including Australia, China, Taiwan Korea, and Japan.

“Moving forward, we are set to grow our fleet with an additional 24 A330-300 aircraft between 2013 and 2017, which will see AirAsia X expand further in the long-haul segment across Asia Pacific. Our move to KLIA 2 next year will also provide us the right infrastructure and enhanced ground facilities needed to support our growing network and feeder traffic for better connectivity within the AirAsia group.”