KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 22 (AFP) – Budget carrier AirAsia said Friday its net profits rose in the third quarter, despite a downturn in the aviation sector, due to higher passenger numbers and cost-cutting measures.

Net profits in the three months to September climbed to 130.07 million ringgit (US$38.35 million) from a loss of 465.53 million ringgit a year ago. Revenues grew eight percent to 657.4 million ringgit.

''Revenue for the quarter was higher by four percent to 740 million ringgit supported by 19 percent passenger growth to 3.8 million,'' CEO Tony Fernandes said in a statement.

''AirAsia achieved the feat despite the challenging economic environment that has seen other airlines, including established legacy carriers, reporting losses, grounding aircraft, retrenching staff and reducing capacity,'' he added.

For the first half, Southeast Asia's biggest low-cost carrier posted a net profit of 342.3 million ringgit compared to 170.7 million ringgit in the same period a year ago.

Fernandes said the carrier's focus on the bottom line paid dividends.
''While fuel remains volatile, we have continued to drive up productivity gains through investments in technology, contain airport and handling costs while the current low interest rate environment helps us to reduce the cost of aircraft financing,'' he said.

Fernandes added that ''aggressive and creative marketing'' had helped the carrier maintain its high load factor of 75 percent despite adding more seats and launching five new routes this year.

''Based on the forward booking trend, the underlying passenger demand in the fourth quarter is positive. We are on course to achieve the group's target of carrying 25 million guests for the full year 2009.''