AirAsia load factor up, but sales volume down

Revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), or the sales volume, fell 1 per cent to 12.41 billion from 12.5 billion a year earlier. The company said 10.74 million passengers flew the airline during the quarter.

The low-cost carrier added four additional aircraft, bringing its total fleet size to 171 as at end-September.

Malaysia AirAsia’s (MAA) operations maintained its load factor at 77 per cent in the quarter, with a 0.5 per cent increase to 5.3 million in the number of passengers carried.

“As the third quarter is seasonally a weak quarter for Malaysia due to the month of Ramadan falling in July, the management allocated only one aircraft to MAA,” it said.

Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia’s (TAA) load factor continued to be on the high side, recording 82 per cent despite the political tension and sluggish economic growth. It said TAA carried 2.9 million passengers in the third quarter, a 12 per cent increase from 2.6 million previously, as the Thai government took measures to stimulate the tourism sector like offering a three-month visa fee waiver for Chinese and Taiwanese tourists and declaring extra holidays in August.

Indonesia AirAsia (IAA) posted a 10 per cent decline in the number of passengers carried to 1.8 million in the quarter from 2.06 million previously, along with a 15 per cent decrease in the number of seats to 2.32 million.

“The management continued with its route-rationalisation exercise during this challenging time, where the country was hit by a depreciating rupiah and causing an increase in operation costs,” AirAsia said.

On its part, Philippines’ AirAsia (PAA) also carried fewer passengers at 0.62 million, a 15 per cent decrease from 0.73 million a year ago, coupled with a 23 per cent drop in capacity.

“No new routes or frequency were increased in PAA’s network this quarter, as management is focused on turning around the current operating routes,” it said.

The third quarter was the first time AirAsia India’s (AAI) operating statistics were disclosed.

For the full quarter, AAI flew 0.13 million passengers with a 75 per cent load factor and two aircraft.

In a separate statement, AirAsia X Bhd said it ferried 1.04 million passengers for the third quarter, a 24 per cent jump from 0.84 million a year ago.

The long-haul, low-cost airline, which is the affiliate of the AirAsia Group, recorded a 1.7-percentage-point-lower load factor to 80 per cent for the quarter.

Its RPK and available seat kilometres (ASK) rose 21 per cent and 24 per cent to 6.37 billion and 5.13 billion, respectively.

“The capacity added was lower than had been earlier planned, as more aircraft capacity was withdrawn from scheduled services during lean periods and re-deployed to charters and wet leases in other regions that generated positive margins,” AirAsia X said.

“The intended slower injection of capacity growth from the third quarter of 2014 onwards is to allow the previously added capacity in 2013 to mature and progress towards profitability,” it added.

During the third quarter, AirAsia X grew its fleet size to 24 aircraft from 17 in the same period last year.

Its cargo segment saw an improvement of 21 per cent to 9,771 tonnes total cargo carried from 8,079 tonnes previously, with a 41 per cent load factor recorded.