Malaysia Airlines worse is to come as profits fall

Published:29 August, 6:59 am

A “sharp decline” in bookings will see profits at Malaysia Airlines fall further in the coming months the carrier has warned in a statement.

Announcing a second quarter net loss of 307 million Malaysian ringgit (£59 million) for the three months to June, the carrier said worse was yet to come.

The airline has been affected by the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine and the disappearance of flight MH370 in recent months.

“We expected the impact of MH370 on the performance in quarter two,” said chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

“Given that, our team put in much hard work and effort to regain market confidence and rebuild sales.

“Tragically, just as we were beginning to see signs of recovery in all regions, we were dealt the blow of MH17.

“The full financial impact of the double tragedies of MH370 and MH17 is expected to hit Malaysia Airlines in the second half of the year,” he added.

Average weekly bookings declined by a third, he added, with numerous flight cancellations immediately after the MH17 incident.

Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8th on its way to Beijing with 239 people on board while MH17 was shot down in Ukraine on July 17th killing all 298 passengers on board.

It is unclear who is responsible for the latter incident.

Following the disasters, nationalisation of the carrier has been mooted.

Soureced from: breakingtravelnews.com