For the 1st quarter of its Financial Year 2013, the AirAsia group welcomed 9.8 million passengers, up by 19% while the load factor reached 79%.
KUALA LUMPUR – This was the first time that the AirAsia Group is disclosing and incorporating Philippines AirAsia and AirAsia Japan operating figures into the overall numbers. The total number of passengers increased by 19% to approximately 9.8 million which is in line with 21% increase in capacity. Year-on-year, the AirAsia Group took in 22 additional aircraft, which brings its total fleet at the end of March 2013 to 122 aircraft.
Malaysia AirAsia’s load factor remained resilient at 79% in 1Q13, despite taking on 2 additional aircraft this quarter. This brought up the total number of aircraft operated by MAA at the end of the period to 66, an additional 9 aircraft as compared to the same period last year. MAA took advantage of the strong season in January and February, but March was slower contributed to the slight impact of the Filipino/Malaysian incident in Sabah and the termination of the Kuala Lumpur– Colombo route in February. Total passengers carried were approximately 5.2 million, a strong 7% increase year-on-year. Capacity increased by 9% year-on-year to cater to the additional frequencies especially in the domestic front and few Indonesian routes.
Thai AirAsia again recorded a commendable load factor of 87% in 1Q13. Approximately 2.6 million passengers were carried, which was 20% increase as compared to the same period last year, and in line with the increase in capacity. The increase was due to the increase in frequencies in domestic destinations such as Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Krabi and Nakhon Si Thammarat to support the increasing travel demand during this high season. This quarter, TAA added 1 additional aircraft which brings its total number of aircraft up to 28.
Indonesia AirAsia posted a high load factor 75% in 1Q13, mainly due to the new capacity that was added, which was up 40% from the first quarter last year. The additional capacity is due to the introduction of 5 new routes which were Makassar – Manado, Makassar – Surabaya, Makassar – Denpasar, Makassar – Kuala Lumpur, and Semarang – Singapore. Total passengers carried grew 35% to approximately 1.7 million due to the new routes that were introduced during the period. At the end of March, IAA has a total fleet of 22 aircraft.
Philippines’ AirAsia recorded a load factor of 76% despite only starting its operations in March last year. Total passengers carried were around 0.144 million in this quarter, and at the end of the period, PAA has a total of 2 aircraft in operations.
AirAsia Japan’s load factor was at 70% this quarter and it carried a total number of approximately 0.182 million passengers. AAJ just recently introduced its second hub in Nagoya, and introduced one new route this quarter which is Nagoya – Fukuoka. Total fleet since it started operating in August 2012 is 4 aircraft.
In a separate statement, long haul affiliate AirAsia X Bhd, indicated to have recorded during the first quarter of 2013, some 0.65 million passengers, a growth of 20.9% over the same quarter in 2012 for its continuing routes.Load factor reached 84%. AAX fleet remains at 9 Airbus A330s and 2 Airbus A340s, but the tenth A330 was delivered in April 2013. On 16 February 2013, AirAsia X Berhad launched its inaugural flight to Jeddah followed by Shanghai on 19th February 2013. Busan will follow on July 15th, increasing the total number of destinations served by AirAsia X to 15.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
