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1 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years

operation.

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial health of the two dominant airlines in
Malaysia; MAS and Air Asia.
All figures presented in this paper are in Malaysia Ringgit dollars. As of September 12, 2001,
1USD=RM3.16.
This paper is outlined as follows:
First, a brief discussion of the history of commercial aviation in Malaysia
Second, a presentation of the financial ratios comparing MAS and Air Asia
Third, a discussion and comments of the financial ratios for MAS and Air Asia
Strengths and weakness of Air Asia

The Airline Industry in Malaysia

The airline industry exists in an intensely competitive market. In recent years, there has been
an industry-wide shakedown, which will have far-reaching effects on the industry's trend
towards expanding domestic and international services. In the past, the airline industry was at
least partly government owned.
The airline industry can be separated into four categories:
International - 130+ seat planes that have the ability to take passengers just about
anywhere in the world. Companies in this category typically have annual revenue of
$1 billion or more.
National - Usually these airlines seat 100-150 people and have revenues between
$100 million and $1 billion.
Regional - Companies with revenues less than $100 million that focus on short-haul
flights.
Cargo - These are airlines generally transport goods.
A recent tie-up between Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) and AirAsia Bhd could save
both airlines as much as RM1 billion a year.Both airlines can save as much as RM300 million
to RM400 million by realigning capacity to match market demand. It estimated that roughly
70% of the combined capacity of MAS and AirAsia is deployed on overlapping routes, which
undermines yields, load factor and ultimately profitability.

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2 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

The Air Asia Establishment


Low cost carriers (LCC) have been regarded as a new business model in airline industry
recently. Southwest Airlines, which is deemed as one of the largest LCC in the world,
exhibits a successful story to all the airlines across the globe since 70s. Its successful business
model stimulated the start-up of LCC in Europe. Ryanair and easyJet, for example, has
demonstrated itself as a profitable LCC in intra-Europe market since 1985.

Air Asia one of the earliest LCC in Asia was established initially by DRB-Hicom Bhd in late
1996, Asian financial crisis in 1997. Malaysian Government studied Tonys proposal to start a
LCC carrier and refused to issue a new licence and had requested Tony to buy over an
existing airline. Tune Air, set up by Tony and his investors bought Air Asia over from DRB-
Hicom on 8th Dec 2001 for a token sum of RM1, with its 2 x Boeing 737-300s, a tiny route
network and nearly RM 40 million in debts.

Tony Fernandez (VP, Times Warner Music, SEA), had RM 1 million in hand (mortgaged
house and sold off Times Warner Share Options) to pump into Air Asia. Air Asias LCC runs
short-haul (less than 3 hours) and is low-cost, no-frills carrier serving routes within Asia. Air
Asia was re-launched in January 2002, with fares lower than bus ticket for local destinations
and even gave away free tickets. First day of operations started with RM 1 promotional price.
Air Asia started with routes from KL, and then from Senai Airport in Johor in 2003.

The AirAsia Group currently has 95 aircraft in service, spread across 12 hubs. The rapid pace
of AirAsias growth is set to continue. AirAsia has placed a firm order with Airbus for 200
A320neo aircraft. Three new joint ventures are expected to be operating by 2013 and the
airline recently announced a strategic alliance with Malaysia Airlines (MAS), which is
expected to result in further strong growth, most notably for the Malaysian unit. The MAS
tie-up will address market fragmentation and better segment the market, with MAS LCC
operation, which now falls under the Firefly unit, to be retired in favour of a wide cooperation
agreement with AirAsia. This will leave MAS, and its new premium offshoot Sapphire, to
focus on premium traffic in the region, with AirAsia to control low-cost and leisure travel.

The airlines growing fleet will soon be spread across six airlines. Mr Fernandes said AirAsia
now has a unique franchise model, with room for potentially one more offshoot. AirAsia
Philippines, AirAsia Vietnam and AirAsia Japan have not yet commenced operations but
will all be operating by 2013. He said that he also sees room for one more affiliate up in the
north [of Asia].

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3 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

AirAsia Group joint ventures, current as at 23-Aug-2011

Financial Performance
The airline business is very typical in the term of investing capital. It has been used heavy
capital over the past century and people still invest the money on this extraordinary business.

The accounting review of AirAsia is going to be conducted based on its financial statement
for the year 2009 and 2010.

Presentation of the Ratios


Balance Sheet
In millions of MYR

Fiscal Year Ending Dec 31 2010 2010 2009

ASSETS
Cash And Short Term Investments 1,476 718

Total Recivables, Net 777 872

Total Inventory 18 21

Prepaid expenses 326 251

Other current assets, total 277 359

Total current assets 2,874 2,221

Property, plant & equipment, net 9,318 7,942

Goodwill, net 8.74 8.74

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4 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

Fiscal Year Ending Dec 31 2010 2010 2009

Intangibles, net -- --

Long term investments 153 27

Note receivable - long term 142 449

Other long term assets 26 0

Total assets 13,240 11,398

LIABILITIES
Accounts payable 100 94

Accrued expenses 376 376

Notes payable/short-term debt 0 48

Current portion long-term debt/capital leases 554 492

Other current liabilities, total 814 699

Total current liabilities 1,844 1,710

Total long term debt 7,303 7,068

Total debt 7,857 7,608

Deferred income tax -- --

Minority interest -- --

Other liabilities, total 453 0

Total liabilities 9,599 8,777

SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY
Common stock 277 276

Additional paid-in capital 1,222 1,206

Retained earnings (accumulated deficit) 2,142 1,138

Treasury stock - common -- --

Unrealized gain (loss) -- --

Other equity, total 0.49 0.59

Total equity 3,641 2,621

Total liabilities & shareholders' equity 13,240 11,398

Total common shares outstanding 2,773 2,758

Treasury shares - common primary issue -- --

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5 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

INCOME STATEMENT
Fiscal Year Ending Dec 31 2010 2010 2009

REVENUE AND GROSS PROFIT


Total revenue 3,948 3,133

OPERATING EXPENSES
Cost of revenue total 2,113 1,752

Selling, general and admin. expenses, total 70 54

Depreciation/amortization 520 448

Unusual expense(income) 5.69 (30)

Other operating expenses, total 99 71

Total operating expense 2,881 2,220

Operating income 1,067 913

Other, net -- --

INCOME TAXES, MINORITY INTEREST AND EXTRA ITEMS


Net income before taxes 1,099 622

Provision for income taxes 37 116

Net income after taxes 1,061 506

Minority interest -- --

Net income before extra. Items 1,061 506

Total extraordinary items -- --

Net income 1,061 506

Inc.avail. to common excl. extra. Items 1,061 506

Inc.avail. to common incl. extra. Items 1,061 506

Basic/primary weighted average shares 2,762 2,456

Basic/primary eps excl. extra items 0.38 0.21

Basic/primary eps incl. extra items 0.38 0.21

Dilution adjustment 0 0

Diluted weighted average shares 2,770 2,456

Diluted eps excl. extra items 0.38 0.21

Diluted eps incl. extra items 0.38 0.21

DPS - common stock primary issue 0.03 0

Gross dividend - common stock 77 0

Pro forma net income -- --

Interest expense, supplemental 382 371

SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME

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6 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

Fiscal Year Ending Dec 31 2010 2010 2009

Depreciation, supplemental 520 448

Total special items 5.69 (30)

NORMALIZED INCOME
Normalized income before taxes 1,105 592

Effect of special items on income taxes 0.19 (5.65)

Income tax excluding impact of special items 38 110

Normalized income after tax 1,067 482

Normalized income avail. to common 1,067 482

Basic normalized EPS 0.39 0.20

Diluted normalized EPS 0.39 0.20

A financial ratio (or accounting ratio) is a relative magnitude of two selected numerical
values taken from an enterprise's financial statements. Often used in accounting, there are
many standard ratios used to try to evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or
other organization. Financial ratios may be used by managers within a firm, by current and
potential shareholders (owners) of a firm, and by a firm's creditors. Security analysts use
financial ratios to compare the strengths and weaknesses in various companies. [1] If shares in
a company are traded in a financial market, the market price of the shares is used in certain
financial ratios.
Liquidity Measurement Ratios: Introduction
Liquidity ratios attempt to measure a company's ability to pay off its short-term debt
obligations. This is done by comparing a company's most liquid assets (or, those that can be
easily converted to cash), its short-term liabilities.

In general, the greater the coverage of liquid assets to short-term liabilities the better as it is a
clear signal that a company can pay its debts that are coming due in the near future and still
fund its ongoing operations. On the other hand, a company with a low coverage rate should
raise a red flag for investors as it may be a sign that the company will have difficulty meeting
running its operations, as well as meeting its obligations.

Current Ratios

The current ratio is a popular financial ratio used to test a company's liquidity (also referred
to as its current or working capital position) by deriving the proportion of current assets
available to cover current liabilities.

Formula:

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7 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

Components:

2874
CurrentRat io 2010 1.58
1844
2221
CurrentRat io2009 1.3
1710

As of December 31, 2010, with amounts expressed in millions, Air Asia Berhad current assets
amounted to RM2,874 million (balance sheet), which is the numerator; while current
liabilities amounted to RM1,844 million(balance sheet), which is the denominator. By
dividing, the equation gives us a current ratio of 1.58.
Commentary:

Generally, current ratios greater than one indicate a measure of liquidity; this indicates that
the company has enough short-term assets (defined as cash, short term investments, accounts
receivable, prepaid expenses, and inventory) to meet its short-term financial obligations. In
the case of airlines, short-term obligations (liabilities) include bank debt, accounts payable,
advanced ticket sales, non-refundable passenger credits, and the current portion of long-term
debt or leases. In theory, the higher the current ratio, the better.

In the case of Air Asia, the current ratio increased in 2010 to 1.58 from 1.3 in 1009. These
ratios are lower than average current ratio for industry which is 1.12. Air Asia looks like an
easy winner in a liquidity contest. It has an ample margin of current assets over current
liabilities, a seemingly good current ratio.

Liquidity Measurement Ratios: Quick Ratio


The quick ratio - aka the quick assets ratio or the acid-test ratio - is a liquidity indicator that
further refines the current ratio by measuring the amount of the most liquid current assets
there are to cover current liabilities. The quick ratio is more conservative than the current
ratio because it excludes inventory and other current assets, which are more difficult to turn
into cash. Therefore, a higher ratio means a more liquid current position.
Formula:
CurrentAss et inventories
QuickRatio
CurrentLia bilities

Components:

2874 18
QuickRatio 2010 1.55
1844

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8 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

2221 21
QuickRatio 2009 1.29
1710

As of December 31, 2010, with amounts expressed in millions, Air Asia quick assets
amounted to RM2,856 million (balance sheet); while current liabilities amounted to RM1844
million (balance sheet).By dividing, the equation gives us a quick ratio of 1.55.

Commentary:
As previously mentioned, the quick ratio is a more conservative measure of liquidity than the
current ratio as it removes inventory from the current assets used in the ratio's formula. By
excluding inventory, the quick ratio focuses on the more-liquid assets of a company.

The basics and use of this ratio are similar to the current ratio in that it gives users an idea of
the ability of a company to meet its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets. Another
beneficial use is to compare the quick ratio with the current ratio. If the current ratio is
significantly higher, it is a clear indication that the company's current assets are dependent on
inventory.
Acid test ratio for the year of 2010 is better than year 2009. The industry average of 1.04 is
lower than Air Asia Ratio, which indicates that Air Asia may not have trouble meeting short
term needs.

Average collection period ratio


The average collection period is the number of days, on average, that it takes a company to
collection its credit accounts or its accounts receivables. In other words, the average
collection period of accounts receivable is the average number of days required to
convert receivables into cash.
Formula:
Account Re veivable
AverageCol lectionPeriod
DailyCredi tSale
Components:
777
AverageCol lectionPeriod 2010 365 72days
3948

872
AverageCol lectionPeriod 2009 365 101.6days
3133

Commentary:
The Air Asia average collection period 2010 is more efficient than 2009, but both are is still
under 45 days debt.

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9 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

Operating Efficiency Ratios: Introduction


These ratios look at how well a company turns its assets into revenue as well as how
efficiently a company converts its sales into cash. Basically, these ratios look at how
efficiently and effectively a company is using its resources to generate sales and increase
shareholder value. In general, the better these ratios are, the better it is for shareholders.
Operating Income on investment (OIROI)

Operating income return on investment (OIROI) is another measure of ROI; the attention is
only to the operating profits of the firm. This metric is used while evaluating whether the
management is generating adequate operating profits on the firms assets or not. OIROI is a
pure measure of the efficiency of a company while generating the returns from its assets,
without being affected by management financing decisions.
Formula:

OperatingIncome
OIROI
TotalAsset s

Components:

1067
OIROI 2010 8.1%
13240

913
OIROI 2009 8.01%
11398

Commentary:

After finding OIROI of a firm, this ratio is compared with the operating return on investment
of the peer group. If this ratio is higher than that of the peer group, it means that management
is generating significantly more income on $1 of assets than similar firms.
The Industry average is 3.25. OIROI Air Asia shows that in 2010 and 2009 for RM1 total
asset invested the operating income 8 , which above industry average.
Operating Profit Margin
Operating income, or operating profit as it is sometimes called, is the total pre-tax profit a
business generated from its operations. It is what is available to the owners before a few other
items need to be paid such as preferred stock dividends and income taxes.
Formula:

OperatingIncome
Operating Pr ofitM arg in
Sales
Components:

1067
Operating Pr ofitM arg in 2010 27%
3948

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10 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

913
Operating Pr ofitM arg in 2009 29%
3113
Commentary:

Operating Profit Margin of Air Asia for the year of 2010 is lower than 2009. It shows that in
2010 every RM1 sales Air Asia operating income is 27 while in 2009 Air Asia is 29.

Total Asset Turnover


This ratio, which is simply sales divided by assets, can show both how capital intensive a
business is, and how well it uses assets to produce revenue. Some businesses for example
software makers can generate tremendous sales per dollar of assets. Electric utilities and
cable TV firms, airlines, and steel makers, on the other hand, require a huge asset base to
generate sales. Simply put, the higher the yearly turnover rate, the better.

Formula:

Sales
TotalAsset Turnover
TotalAsset s
Components:

3948
TotalAsset Turnover 2010 0.3times
13240

3133
TotalAsset Turnover 2009 0.27times
11398

Commentary:
The industry average is 0.66. For Air Asia, this figure is 0.3 in both 1999 and 2000, This
indicates that Air Asia needs to figure out how to squeeze more sales ringgits out of its assets.
With Total Asset of RM13,240 million in 2010, Air Asia has can only generate sales of 0.3
times worth of the asset .

Account receivable Turnover


Accounts receivable turnover ratio is a measure of the liquidity of a company's account
receivable asset. Typically, the higher the turnover is, the more favorable it is. An interesting
counter argument to the preceding statement is that a too high an account receivable turnover
ratio may point to an overly restrictive credit policy and that good sales may be lost
impacting the overall health and organic growth of the company.
Formula:

CreditSale s
Account Re ceivableTurnover
Account Re ceivable

Components:

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11 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

3948
Account Re ceivableTurnover 2010 5.08times
777

3133
Account Re ceivableTurnover 2009 3.6times
872
Commentary:
The industry average is 12.96. Air Asia Account Receivable in 2010 is more efficient than
2009, but both are is still under 45 days debt collection.

Inventory turnover
In accounting, the Inventory turnover is a measure of the number of times inventory is sold or
used in a time period such as a year. The equation for inventory turnover equals the cost of
goods sold divided by the average inventory. Inventory turnover is also known as inventory
turns, stock turn, stock turns, turns, and stock turnover.

Formula:

CostofGoodsSold
InventoryTurnOver
Inventory

Components:

2113
InventoryTurnOver 2010 117 times
18
1752
InventoryTurnOver 2009 83times
21
Commentary:
The industry average is 48.25. Air Asia Inventory Turnover for the year of 2010 is very much
efficient compared to the year of 2009 which is managed the Inventory Turnover for 83 times
only.

Fixed Asset Turnover


This ratio is a rough measure of the productivity of a company's fixed assets (property, plant
and equipment or PP&E) with respect to generating sales. For most companies, their
investment in fixed assets represents the single largest component of their total assets. This
annual turnover ratio is designed to reflect a company's efficiency in managing these
significant assets. Simply put, the higher the yearly turnover rate, the better.

Formula:

Sales
FixedAssetTurnover
FixedAsset

Components:

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12 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

3948
FixedAssetTurnover 2010 0.38times
10366
3133
FixedAssetTurnover 2009 0.34times
9117
Commentary:
Fixed Asset Turnover for Air Asia for the year 2010 is a bit higher compared to 2009.

Leverage Ratio: Introduction


A general term describing a financial ratio that compares some form of owner's equity (or
capital) to borrowed funds. Gearing is a measure of financial leverage, demonstrating the
degree to which a firm's activities are funded by owner's funds versus creditor's funds.

Debt Ratios
The debt ratio compares a company's total debt to its total assets, which is used to gain a
general idea as to the amount of leverage being used by a company. A low percentage means
that the company is less dependent on leverage, i.e., money borrowed from and/or owed to
others. The lower the percentage, the less leverage a company is using and the stronger its
equity position. In general, the higher the ratio, the more risk that company is considered to
have taken on.
Formula:

TotalDebt / TotalLiabi lities


DebtRatio
TotalAsset
Components:

9599
DebtRatio2010 72.7%
13204
8777
DebtRatio 2009 77%
11398
Commentary:
Air Asia Debt Ratio is very high for the both year . On the other hand, the airline industry,
and air travel in particular, is not a very stable industry. Specifically, travel, both from
business and leisure passengers, is one of the first items to decline in times of economic
contraction. Therefore, the ratios for other airline are certainly more risky than Air Asia.

Times Interest Earned Ratio

The times interest earned ratio is an Indicator of a companys ability to meet the interest
payments on its debt. The times interest earned calculation is a corporations income before
interest and income tax expense, divided by interest expense.

The higher the times interest earned ratio, the more likely it is that the corporation will be
able to meet its interest payments.

Formula:

OperatingIncome
TimesInter estEarnedRatio
InterestExpense

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13 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

Components:

1067
TimesInter estEarnedRatio 2010 2.79times
382

913
TimesInter estEarnedRatio 2009 2.39times
382
Commentary:
Air Asia Times Interest Earned Ratio is quite high. This is the evidence that this Group uses
less debt financing, especially in the year of 2010.

Profitability Indicator Ratios: Introduction


These ratios, much like the operational performance ratios, give users a good understanding
of how well the company utilized its resources in generating profit and shareholder value.

The long-term profitability of a company is vital for both the survivability of the company as
well as the benefit received by shareholders. It is these ratios that can give insight into the all
important "profit". In this section, we will look at four important profit margins, which
display the amount of profit a company generates on its sales at the different stages of
an income statement.

Profitability Indicator Ratios: Return on Equity


This ratio indicates how profitable a company is by comparing its net income to its average
shareholders' equity. The return on equity ratio (ROE) measures how much the shareholders
earned for their investment in the company. The higher the ratio percentage, the more
efficient management is in utilizing its equity base and the better return is to investors.
This ratio represents the return on the owners investment. Return on equity is probably the
most widely used measure of how well a company is performing for its shareholders.
It is a relatively straightforward benchmark that is easy to calculate, works for the great
majority of industries, and allows investors to compare the company's use of its equity with
other investments.

Formula:

Components:

1061
ROE 2010 29%
3641

506
ROE 2009 19%
2621

Commentary:

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14 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

As of December 31, 2010, with amounts expressed in millions, Air Asia had net income of
rm1,061 million (income statement), and average shareholders' equity of $3,641 million
(balance sheet). By dividing, the equation gives us an ROE of 29% for FY 2010.
This means that for RM1 of equity invested in the company, 29 cents was returned in 2010
alone.
Return on equity, for most companies, certainly should be in the double digits, and value
investors often look for 15 percent or higher. A return of more than 20 percent is considered
excellent.

References

Internet Sources/Website
http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/airline.asp#ixzz1a3lXbYIX
http://www.centreforaviation.com/analysis/airasias-unique-franchise-of-jvs-drive-profits-and-
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/incomestatementanalysis/a/operating-income-
http://www.infinancials.com/Eurofin/control/company?view=snapshot&type=0&company

1
15 You are required to evaluate the financial performance or Air Asia Berhad over its recent two years operation.

http://essaysforstudent.com/Business/Porter-five-forces-AirAsia/83826.html
http://www.oppapers.com/essays/The-Air-Asia-Establishment/191387
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=AIRA.KL
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?
ticker=AIRA:MK
http://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/#axzz1Z8pXpb7q
http://www.airasia.com/my/en/corporate/corporateprofile.page?
http://www.ecomaxmc.com/blog/?p=12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Asia
http://www.airbus.com/newsevents/news-events-single/detail/airasia-orders-200-a320neo
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/46361/Airline+Industry+Outlook+-+Jan.+2011
http://www.icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/business strategy / airasia.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_ratio
http://bizfinance.about.com/od/financialratios/f/Avg_Collection_Period.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/leverage-finance#ixzz1aSGlc1mN
http://blog.accountingcoach.com/times-interest-earned/
http://www.marketdiary.asia/2011/07/air-asia-airamk-taken-off-but-still.html
http://bataviase.co.id/node/237257

Books/Journals

1. Francis, G., Humphreys, I. and Ison, S. (2003) "Airports' perspectives on the


growth of low-cost airlines and the remodeling of airport-airline relationship".
Tourism Management.
2. Kho, C., S. H. Aruan, et al. (2005). AirAsia- Strategic IT Initiative. Faculty of
Economics and Commerce University of Melbourne: 3.
3. Porter, M.E. (1985). Competitive Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Superior
Performance. New York: The Free Press.
4. Johnston, H. (1996), Partnership Up in the Air, Asian Business, August, p.53
5. Phillip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, Principles of Marketing, 9th ed. (Upper Saddle
River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2001), p.245
6. Mok Kim Man, Jainurin Bin Justine, International Business & Economics Research
Journal December 2005 Universiti Malaysia - Sabah, Malaysia
7. Tengku Akbar Tengku Abdullah, Competition in the airline industry:
The case of price war between Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia. Central
Asia Business Journal, 3, November 2010.
8. Foundations of Airline Finance: Methodology and Practice By Bijan Vasigh, Ken
Fleming, Liam Mackay

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