Malaysia Airlines Expects Smaller Loss

September 8, 2016

Malaysia Airlines reported lower passenger loads in the second quarter but said it expected to record a smaller loss for the year than originally budgeted.

The second quarter was weaker with quarterly revenue down due to soft demand during Ramadan. The flag carrier said it expected a stronger third quarter.

Load factor dropped 0.3 percentage points to 68.6 percent from the first quarter.

“Competition both domestically and globally remains intense and I expect it will intensify in the second half of the year,” chief executive Peter Bellew said.

“In the second half of 2016 we are working hard on revenue generation with more aggressive marketing and sales initiatives whilst maintaining strict cost discipline.”

Bellew replaced Christoph Mueller who resigned earlier this year.

Malaysia Airlines has been struggling since the disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting down of MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

(Airwise)