AirAsia load factor flat at 80% in second quarter

AirAsia load factor flat at 80% in second quarter
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Isabelle Francis of theedgemalaysia.com
Tuesday, 06 August 2013 09:52

KUALA LUMPUR: AIRASIA BHD []’s load factor increased marginally by a percentage point to 80% in the second quarter (2Q) ended June 30, while the number of passengers rose by 20% to 9.9 million.

In a statement yesterday, the budget carrier said its Malaysian operations posted a load factor of 80% in the quarter while Thai AirAsia recorded 82% and Indonesia AirAsia, 79%. The load factor is the occupancy rate of seats available during a flight by the airline.

AirAsia said the 20% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in the group’s total number of passengers was in line with a rise in total capacity by 18%.

The group, excluding AirAsia Japan, took an additional 19 aircraft during the quarter, which brings its total fleet at end-June this year to 121 planes. AirAsia announced in July that its Japan joint venture would cease operations in October.

As for the Malaysian operations alone, the number of aircraft increased to 66, an additional of eight, from the same period last year.

The number of passengers carried by AirAsia’s Malaysian operations during the period was up 12% at about 5.5 million, in line with a 12% frequency increase in a number of routes, including Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, Bintulu and Langkawi, and Kuala Lumpur to Tiruchirappalli, India and Lombok, Indonesia.

“The strong load factor and high passenger growth [for the Malaysian operations] are mainly due to AirAsia’s continuous strategy to be load active and yield passive despite the challenges faced following the 13th general election and the Lahad Datu incident,” said the airline in a statement.

Thai AirAsia (TAA) saw a load factor of 82% in 2Q, a 3% y-o-y increase following a 20% rise in capacity on routes such as Bangkok to Hong Kong, Wuhan and Phuket.

During the quarter, TAA took in one new aircraft, bringing its total fleet to 29 at end- June.

Indonesia AirAsia posted a percentage point increase in its load factor to 79% in 2Q. The number of passengers was up by 33% to 1.9 million, in line with a capacity increase of 32%.

Philippine AirAsia recorded a load factor of 74% in 2Q, a big improvement compared with only 48% in the same quarter last year. The total number of passengers was around 140,000, up 114% y-o-y, while capacity increased by 38%.



This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 06, 2013.