AirAsia X said it swung into a net loss in its Q3 from a year earlier, blaming higher costs and lower unit revenues particularly in its main markets of Malaysia and Thailand. The long-haul, low-cost airline cited an overall challenging environment in Malaysia together with higher marketing expenses and lower other income in Thailand, and said both regions saw operating losses. The airline reported a small profit in its Indonesia business, supported by strong revenue from its Bali routes. AirAsia X said costs, measured in terms of cost per available seat kilometres, rose 6% from a year ago, on the back of provision for doubtful debt. A weaker ringgit against the US dollar and higher average fuel prices - up 3% from a year ago - also had an impact. Revenue per available seat kilometres was down 3% year-on-year due to increased capacity on existing routes and promotional fares offered to stimulate new routes, it said. For the July-September period, the airline reported a net loss of 43.3m ringgit ($10.55m), compared with 11m ringgit profit a year earlier. Revenue climbed to 1.12b ringgit, supported by a 23% growth in passenger volume and 4% increase in ancillary revenue per passenger. Better operating statistics and a surge in travel during Malaysia’s school holidays and Eid in August failed to cushion the impact of higher costs. Load factor inched up 1 percentage point to 79%. Q3 is seasonally one of AirAsia X’s leanest periods, and the airline said it expected a recovery in the following quarter, based on booking trends.<br/>
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An AirAsia flight from Perth to Bali that suddenly lost cabin pressure - plummeting 20,000 feet - dropped at a rate of 11 metres per second, a report has revealed. Flight QZ535 from Perth turned back just 25 minutes after take-off on October 15 when crew had to make a mid-air emergency decision, terrifying and panicking the 146 passengers. An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has revealed exactly what went wrong when the low-budget airline's Airbus conducted an "emergency descent" with 146 passengers, two flight crew and four cabin crew on board. The aircraft plunged from 32,000ft to 10,000ft, with dramatic footage captured by passengers showing crew members instructing passengers to "get down, get down" as oxygen masks drop and they are ordered to adopt the brace position. Crew members attempted to switch the controls to manually close the valves and stop the cabin's pressurisation rate from climbing, however the caution light disappeared and pilots returned to normal service. But three minutes later a more serious warning appeared when the altitude warning alarm sounded, requiring crew members to perform an emergency descent. A final report is expected to be published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in May 2018.<br/>
Ryanair cabin crew have been told they could face “disciplinary proceedings” and have their working hours forcibly changed unless they sell more perfume and scratchcards. The Irish airline has previously denied pressuring staff to hit specific sales targets, after it emerged they were encouraged to sell products in return for bonuses. But letters sent to crew members by recruitment firms that supply staff to Ryanair – seen by the Guardian – warn of dire consequences for those whose average sales per flight fall “below budget”. The letters highlight 10 products, including drinks, confectionery, cosmetics and scratchcards, listing the percentage of flights in which individual cabin crew members had not sold enough. Cabin crew were also criticised for too often failing to sell more than €E50 of merchandise, indicating a fixed sales target. The letters, one from recruitment agency WorkForce International Contractors and another from an agency that cannot be named because it could not be reached for comment, feature almost identical wording. “This performance is not acceptable and it is clear that you are simply not doing your job on board,” the letters state, warning crew members they had “drastically underperformed”. Crew members were also told that their sales were being “closely monitored” and that if they did not sell more goods “further action will be taken and you may be subject to disciplinary proceedings”.<br/>
Collapsed airline Monarch has won an appeal against a court decision that had stripped it of rights over valuable airport slots, in a boost to administrators who are hoping to recover money for creditors. Administrators at KPMG hope to raise capital by transferring the slots at London's Gatwick and Luton airports to other airlines. "We are delighted with the ruling," said Blair Nimmo, partner at KPMG and joint administrator. "We will now progress the slot exchange transactions we have underway, whose buyers will be announced at completion." Monarch collapsed suddenly at the start of October, immediately ceasing operations, forcing the repatriation of over 100,000 customers by the Civil Aviation Authority. The High Court's initial ruling on Nov. 8 said that as the airline had no planes and retains just three trained pilots, who currently hold management positions, the Airport Coordination Limited - an independent slot co-ordination company - had no duty to assign it slots for summer 2018. The CAA subsequently revoked Monarch's operating licence. However, the Court of Appeal ruling found that despite this, Monarch was still an air carrier when slots fell to be allocated last month and in fact remains one. "It may be a failed air transport undertaking but that need not stop it being an air transport undertaking," judge Guy Newey said in the ruling. ACL said it would not appeal, but was concerned about the implications of the ruling.<br/>