23PC SURGE IN PASSENGER NUMBER
Improvement due to strong demand in end-August which coincides with few holidays
KUALA LUMPUR
AIRASIA X Bhd’s operating performance in the third quarter of the current financial year continued to show improvement, with the number of passengers surging 23 per cent year-on-year to 1.5 million.
In its preliminary operating statistics released, here, yesterday, the airline said the number surpassed its available seat per kilometre (ASK) capacity growth of 21 per cent year-on-year, boosted by strong demand in August when the long National Day weekend coincided with the second-term school holidays and Hari Raya Haji celebrations.
AirAsia X continued to drive demand to fill up additional capacity injected in the third quarter despite the period being traditionally one of the leanest. Its passenger load factor (PLF) improved to 79 per cent year-onyear on the back of 18 per cent growth in ASK to 9,135 million.
During the quarter under review, AirAsia X had added flight frequencies on the Ku ala Lumpur–Taipei route, in line with its strategy to strengthen presence in the North Asian market, it said.
“The fleet size remained at 22 A330s as no new aircraft was added to AirAsia X in the third quarter,” added the airline.
On the performance of its associates, AirAsia X Thailand recorded a robust PLF of 86 per cent, an increase from 85 per cent a year ago, while the number of passengers carried rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year to 359,941.
No new route was added to AirAsia X Thailand’s network in the third quarter as the airline’s management concentrated on fine-tuning its forward strategy, following the successful re-certification of its air operator certificate in June.
“No additional aircraft was added into AirAsia X Thailand during the quarter under review. The number, as at the end of September, remained at six,” said AirAsia X.
Meanwhile, AirAsia X Indonesia has seen considerable growth from two routes, namely Denpasar–Mumbai and DenpasarNarita, since the re-launch of its A330s services in the second quarter of this year.
For the third quarter, AirAsia X Indonesia recorded a PLF of 76 per cent compared with 64 per cent in the second quarter, with the number of passengers carried increasing by more than 100 per cent to 152,385 from 62,722 in third quarter 2016, said AirAsia X.
AirAsia X Indonesia’s fleet size remained with two A330s, hence bringing the total fleet of the AirAsia X group to 30.