AirAsia records 67% load factor in Q3

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd’s consolidated air operator’s certificate (AOCs) recorded a load factor of 67 per cent for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 (3Q2021), down one percentage point from the same period last year.

In a statement on its preliminary Q3 operating statistics released today, the low-cost airline said its seat capacity fell 82 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) during the quarter under review.

"The number of passengers carried slipped to 351,971 from 1.92 million,” it said.

The carrier said during the quarter under review, AirAsia Malaysia operated at 10 per cent capacity and carried nine per cent of passengers in comparison to last year’s Q3, due to strict travel restrictions in place for the most part of 3Q2021.

Nonetheless, a month-on-month comparison confirms that AirAsia Malaysia more than doubled the number of passengers carried in September as compared to August, resulting in 13 percentage points load factor improvement driven by the opening of the Langkawi travel bubble which commenced from Sept 16.

"Subsequently, nationwide interstate and some limited international travel were authorised from Oct 11 onwards, resulting in a surge in bookings from travellers, particularly in visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and leisure travel markets.

"This upward trend is expected to continue throughout Q4 and well into 2022 as global travel restrictions continue to ease,” it said.

Due to the temporary hibernation of the fleet in support of the containment efforts by the government, AirAsia Indonesia carried 21 per cent of passengers with 26 per cent of capacity operated in comparison to the same quarter last year.

Since mid-October, AirAsia Indonesia gradually resumed flights in line with demand, commencing with the Jakarta-Bali route, and it is optimistic of a further easing of travel restrictions in the near future as the population's vaccination rate continues to increase.

Meanwhile, AirAsia Philippines outperformed AirAsia’s other airline entities during 3Q2021, reporting stronger y-o-y and quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) performances. AirAsia Philippines demonstrated a strong performance in 3Q2021, posting 167 per cent growth in the number of passengers carried y-o-y and a five per cent increase q-o-q.

Load factor was healthy at 77 per cent, attributed to active capacity management.

For AirAsia Thailand, it carried four per cent of passengers on five per cent of capacity in comparison to the same quarter last year, as flights were temporarily hibernated for the most part of 3Q2021 in accordance with the government’s containment efforts.

"This setback was reversed in the middle of the quarter following the government's announcement of a resumption of flights starting from Sept 3, when the number of bookings increased significantly, particularly for popular leisure destinations which achieved load factors as high as 90 per cent,” the group said. - Bernama