BUDGET carrier Philippines AirAsia Inc. (AirAsia PHL) recorded a 35-percent increase in passenger volume in the third quarter of 2023, as it strengthened its international operations with the reopening of many economies.
In a disclosure attached to a statement, Capital A Berhad, the parent company of AirAsia PHL, reported that the Filipino budget airline carried 1.64 million passengers in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 1.22 million the year prior.
AirAsia PHL also grew its capacity by 29 percent to 1.78 million seats from 1.38 million, while netting a 4-point increase in passenger load factor to 92 percent from 89 percent.
The Philippine-based carrier also “took the lead with a remarkable 368 percent year-on-year increase in international passengers carried, flying over 354,000 passengers.”
As of end September, AirAsia PHL has a fleet of 25 jets, 15 of which are operational.
The positive results for AirAsia PHL are part of a broader trend within the AirAsia Group, the document showed.
AirAsia Thailand, for instance, reported a 164 percent year-on-year increase, carrying 1.8 million international passengers. Similarly, AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Indonesia both achieved approximately 100 percent year-on-year growth, flying 3.1 million and 1.1 million international passengers, respectively.
As a group, including AirAsia PHL, AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, and AirAsia Indonesia, the airline conglomerate maintained a strong load factor of 89 percent, carrying a total of 14.7 million passengers during the third quarter.
This can be attributed to a consistent high travel demand post-pandemic, resulting in solid year-on-year growth.
The group’s load factor has seen a three-percentage point improvement, achieving close to 50-percent growth in passengers carried while seat capacity grew nearly 45 percent.
Furthermore, year-to-date, the consolidated airlines have now recovered 76 percent of passenger volume from 2019, surpassing overall capacity recovery of 73 percent for the same period.
