KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): AirAsia X’s (AAX) passenger load factor rose to 83% in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2024) from 80% in the same period last year, driven by strong travel demand.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, its passenger load factor was also higher than 82%.
AAX said in a statement that the mid-to-long-haul budget carrier’s passenger numbers surged 90% to 959,623 from 504,476 in the first quarter of 2023, while available seats per kilometer jumped 74% from 2.9 million to 5.04 million.
On a quarterly basis, passenger traffic increased by 7.8%, compared with 890,289 passengers in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“On the online side, Malaysian AirAsia X (AAX Malaysia) launched its first flight to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March 2024 to enter Central Asia, initially with 4 flights per week. In addition, in addition to increasing flights to In addition to the flights to Bali, the company has also added flights to popular routes in China (nine times a week) such as Chengdu (7 times a week), Beijing (7 times a week) and Shanghai (11 times a week). This effectively led to an 85% year-on-year increase in the number of flights for the quarter to 3,184 flights.
As of the end of March, AAX Malaysia’s A330 fleet size remained at 18 aircraft, of which 16 aircraft were in operation.
AAX said AAX Thai’s passenger load factor increased to 89% from 88% in the same period last year, as passenger capacity rose 51% year-on-year to 437,764 in the quarter.
AAX Thailand’s flight count jumped 50% year-on-year to 1,329, while available seats per kilometer increased 37% year-on-year to 2,199 due to the return of one aircraft to its operating fleet.
AAX Thailand’s A330 fleet size is seven aircraft, six of which are in service and in operation.
AAX’s share price has risen more than 20% in the past five days after the company announced plans to merge its aviation business with that of Capital A Bhd. – AirAsia Group Bhd, which owns the Malaysian airlines business and manages operations in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia, was sold to AAX for RM6.8 billion.
At Monday’s close, AAX’s share price rose 16 sen or 11.68% to RM1.53, giving it a market capitalization of RM684.02 million.
