27 April 2023
AirAsia Aviation carriers see “sustained demand” in international travel demand amid a significant capacity ramp-up in the first quarter of the year, including resuming flights to Mainland China.
For the three months ended 31 March, the group – comprising units in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines – grew international capacity by 21% quarter on quarter, while domestic capacity remained stable, with a 2% growth against the previous quarter.
The four carriers carried about 13.1 million passengers during the quarter, more than twice the number flown in the year-ago period. Traffic was up three-fold, while overall capacity more than doubled year on year.
In operational statistics released on 26 April, AirAsia says its relaunch of Mainland China flights has gotten off to a strong start, with nine routes restarted and overall load factors at around 85%.
The Chinese network also makes up about 2.5% of total international passenger numbers, the airline group adds.
Among the AirAsia carriers, it is Thai AirAsia that saw the strong Chinese traffic rebound: the Bangkok-based unit reported load factors of around 90% on its flights to China. System-wide load factors was around 92%, one of the the highest in the group.
Thai AirAsia carried around 4.6 million passengers during the quarter, a three-fold jump year on year, with traffic growing four-fold.
As for AirAsia Malaysia, it carried 5.7 million passengers, of which 40% were flying on its international network. The carrier says the Lunar New Year holiday in late-January helped boost international flying, particularly on flights to and from Singapore, where passenger numbers accounted for 10% of total passenger volume.
Indonesia AirAsia flew 1.2 million passengers in the quarter, up three times year on year, with capacity growing three-fold and traffic up four-fold.
Philippine AirAsia, like Thai AirAsia, reported “remarkable” load factors during the period, at 92%. It carried 1.7 million passengers, more than twice the number reported last year.
“This was driven by full recovery of the domestic market and stronger demand for international destinations,” says AirAsia.
Source: www.flightglobal.com
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