KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): AirAsia X Bhd recorded a passenger load factor (PLF) of 76% for the second quarter of 2023 (2Q2023), a jump of 47% year-on-year (y-o-y) against 29%, while seat capacity surged by over 26 times y-o-y, hitting 818,422 seats flown.

In a statement on Wednesday (July 26), the group attributed the hike in seat capacity to additional aircraft being brought into service and flight network further enhanced compared to the preceding quarter, with 30% growth being reported.

Additionally, AirAsia X’s Malaysia operations demonstrated significant operational improvement across all other key metrics, with number of passengers carried totalled 621,984 in 2Q2023, representing a surge of 70 times y-o-y, and 23% against the preceding quarter, slightly surpassing the 21% increase in available seat kilometres (ASK) capacity for the same period.

“Over the past 12 months, the company’s operations have normalised, reporting remarkable growth of 25 times higher y-o-y in ASK capacity to achieve 3,509 million,” the group added. AirAsia X Malaysia’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) was 2.61 billion, more than 68 times the 38 million recorded a year ago.

During the quarter under review, AirAsia X launched flights to Bangkok, Beijing and Gold Coast, alongside ramping up its frequency to fly daily — up to seven times weekly — to Sydney, between Sydney and Auckland, to Melbourne and Osaka, to meet improved consumer demand.

Across AirAsia X’s network, the group continues to see stellar performance of over 85% PLF for two of its core routes, namely Tokyo and Taipei.

Meanwhile, the group’s associate AirAsia X Thailand carried a total of 311,337 passengers, an increase of over 28 times y-o-y, while ASK capacity grew by 44 times y-o-y to 1.81 billion in 2Q2023. RPK grew 33.8 times to 1.36 billion from just 40 million a year ago.

In April 2023, AirAsia X Thailand launched flights to Shanghai, and increased flight frequency for Tokyo to 14 times weekly as medium-haul low-cost travel demand continues to grow, said the group.

As of end-June, AirAsia X’s total fleet size stood at 17 A330s, with 11 aircraft now activated and operational, while AirAsia X Thailand’s total fleet size remained at eight A330s, with five aircraft activated and operational.

At 3.27pm, AirAsia X shares dropped three sen or 1.65% to RM1.79, translating into a market capitalisation of RM800.3 million.