AirAsia X continues to show encouraging improvement, passengers up 33% in 1Q17

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) continued to show encouraging improvement in its operating performance in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17), despite the huge capacity added during the quarter under review.
The number of passengers carried in 1Q17 saw a sharp 33% increase, year-on-year, (y-o-y) to 1.40 million, exceeding capacity addition of 28%, said AAX in its preliminary operating statistics for the first quarter financial year ended March 31, 2017.
"The healthy growth of passengers carried was attributed to the strong demand for travel observed across all segments," it added.
The company continued to stimulate demand to fill up the additional capacity injected in 1Q17, by achieving higher passenger load factor (PLF), up two percentage points to 84% in 1Q17 from 82% recorded in the same period last year.
This was on the back of 29%, y-o-y, growth in available seat per kilometres to 8,324 million in 1Q17, said the long haul low-cost carrier.
During the quarter under review, Malaysia AirAsia X added its frequency on the Kuala Lumpur-Tehran sector, boosted by increasing demand, and introduced the Kuala Lumpur-Wuhan route to its network.
On associates, Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) registered a strong PLF of 94% in 1Q17 as all routes performed better during the quarter under review.
"No new route and no additional aircraft was added into TAAX in 1Q17, hence their fleet size remained at six," said AAX which terminated the Bangkok-Muscat route in 1Q17.
Meanwhile, Indonesia AirAsia X (IAAX) A330s service was still temporarily suspended as part of a network restructuring aimed at improving operational efficiencies.
"Moving forward in 2017, the group remains prudent in its expansion plan, continued to explore strategic initiatives to ensure sustainable growth and strengthen our position in core markets where we can build up our market leadership position," it added. — Bernama