PETALING JAYA: AirAsia X Bhd achieved a passenger load factor (PLF) of 80%, up 7% year-on-year (y-o-y), even as capacity surged over nine times y-o-y to 1.01 million seats in the third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023).
AirAsia X said the performance came on the back of a 10 times y-o-y increase in the number of passengers, as over 807,000 passengers were carried in Q3 2023 compared to just 80,500 passengers in the same period last year.
Passenger load factor measures the ratio of passengers to the available seats i.e. the percentage of available seats that are filled by passengers.
“Available seats per kilometre (ASK) surged close to 12 times higher y-o-y at 4.4 billion, bolstered by the increase in seat capacity and the continued recovery of the company’s network.
“AirAsia X’s seat capacity grew by 24% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) while ASK capacity rose by 26% as the number of serviceable aircraft increased by three aircraft q-o-q in Q3 2023,” it said in a statement today.
The carrier said during Q3, AirAsia X Malaysia launched its second route to India with flights to Amritsar (four times weekly) and its fourth route in China with flights to Chengdu (three times weekly), reinforcing its commitment to return first to the core markets that it served before the pandemic.
“Flight frequency soared to 114 flights per week by the end of Q3 2023 compared to 23 flights during the end of the same period last year. Flight frequency was up 19% q-o-q, with Shanghai and Perth ramping up frequencies to daily flights,” it said.
Meanwhile, its associate AirAsia X Thailand carried a total of 342,078 passengers, with a healthy PLF of 82% for the quarter under review. In Q3, its ASK capacity grew by six times higher y-o-y at 1.8 billion while seat capacity jumped five times higher y-o-y at 416,053 seats.
Additionally, in terms of network, it said AirAsia X Thailand’s overall flight frequency grew by 15% q-o-q, with frequency on the Shanghai route increasing to six times weekly during the quarter.
AirAsia X’s total fleet size remained at 17 A330s as of the end of September 2023, with 14 aircraft now activated and operational, while AirAsia X Thailand’s total fleet size stood at eight A330s, with six aircraft activated and operational.