KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) carried 33% more passengers in the first quarter of this year (1Q17) as the long-haul, low-cost affiliate of AirAsia Bhd enjoyed strong demand for travel across all segments.

In a statement today, AAX said it carried 1.4 million passengers in 1Q17 from 1.06 million a year ago on the back of a 28% increase in capacity.

Its load factor also rose two percentage points to 84% in 1Q17 and expanded its available seat kilometres (ASK) by 29% to 8.32 million from 6.44 million in 1Q16.

Passenger traffic, measured by revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), climbed 33% to 6.99 million from 5.26 million.

AAX took delivery of one additional aircraft during the quarter under review, bringing the total fleet of Airbus A330-300s to 30 as at March 31, 2017.

In a statement today, AAX said Indonesia AirAsia X's (IAAX) A330 service remains suspended as part of a network restructuring aimed at improving operational efficiencies at the airline.

"IAAX fleet size remained at two A330s," it added.

On Thai AirAsia X (TAAX), AAX said it recorded a load factor of 94% in 1Q17 as all routes performed better during the quarter under review.

TAAX had terminated its Bangkok-Muscat route in 1Q17, and its fleet size remained at six aircraft.

Moving forward in 2017, AAX said it remains prudent in its expansion plan, continues to explore strategic initiatives to ensure sustainable growth and strengthen its position in core markets where it can build up its market leadership position.

At 4.09pm, AAX shares remained unchanged at 45 sen, with 30.92 million shares done. Its market capitalisation stood at RM1.87 billion.