PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Group Bhd saw its key operational metrics continue to improve in September compared with July, including a 36% increase in passengers carried by AirAsia Malaysia, 79% increase in passengers carried by AirAsia India, and an increase of 65% of passengers carried by AirAsia Thailand.
Load factor for the group increased 7 percentage points (ppts) in September compared with July 2020.
AirAsia Malaysia operated 52% of its domestic capacity in September, in comparison w40% in July 2020 as travel demand has been on an upward trajectory since the second quarter (2Q) with the easing of restrictions on interstate travel.
AirAsia Malaysia achieved a 68% load factor while carrying close to 1.8 million passengers during the quarter. While capacity has been reduced in October 2020 given the conditional movement control order by the government, the group said it is striving to recover to 60% of its pre-Covid domestic capacity by the fourth quarter.
AirAsia Indonesia posted a load factor of 49% for 3Q20, down by 36 ppts compared with the same period last year. While AirAsia Indonesia carried only 4% of passengers in 3Q20 at 73,905, the number of passengers carried improved by 18 times quarter-on-quarter as it resumed more flights in line with the easing of travel restrictions.
“AirAsia Indonesia operated 12 routes during the quarter, including 5 international routes namely Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta, Surabaya-Kuala Lumpur, Kualanamu-Kuala Lumpur, Penang-Kualanamu and Kuala Lumpur-Lombok. AirAsia Indonesia also operated 20 charter flights with a total of 5 aircraft being deployed for the quarter. AirAsia Indonesia is expected to ramp up to 45% of its pre-Covid domestic capacity in 4Q,” the group said in a statement.
AirAsia Philippines operated only 5% of last year’s capacity in the third quarter, however, passenger numbers more than doubled quarter-on-quarter.
AirAsia Thailand demonstrated a strong rebound in operations in tandem with solid domestic demand, operating at 96% of pre-Covid domestic capacity in September, compared with 59% in July 2020. In September, AirAsia Thailand also launched an operating hub at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
During the quarter, AirAsia Thailand carried more than 1.8 million passengers, recording a solid load factor of 65%.
“As a result, AirAsia Thailand maintained the largest market share in Thailand. We are aiming for AirAsia Thailand to operate more than pre-Covid domestic capacity in 4Q,” the group said.
AirAsia India’s performance during the quarter was commendable with 36% of capacity being operated in comparison to 3Q’19. Load factor held strong at 62% in 3Q’20, as AirAsia India carried 590,873 passengers, equalling 25% of last year’s third-quarter passengers.
AirAsia said it is optimistic of its Indian operations and is looking at domestic capacity recovering to 65% in the fourth quarter.
AirAsia Thailand demonstrated a strong rebound in operations in tandem with solid domestic demand. – REUTERSPIX
