Capital A reported strong passenger traffic of 13.2 million, representing a 153% year-on-year (YoY) and 11% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in Q1 of 2023. Capital A comprises of four airlines AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Philippines consolidated under one umbrella.
The Group operated 14.8 million seats, 71% of 1Q 2019 levels, with load factor of 89%, at par with pre-pandemic levels. Capital A Berhad announced the operating statistics for its aviation, engineering, digital and logistics segments for the First Quarter of the Financial Year 2023(Q1 2023). The consolidated airlines had activated 157 aircraft, of which 142 were operating and 15 were spares. The group has attributed the strong recovery to increased operating aircraft, as well as robust travel demand
The Group launched a total of nine Chinese destinations with Guang Zhou and Shen Zhen recording the highest passenger traffic. The overall load factor for China's routes was 84%, representing 2.5% of the total international passengers.
AirAsia Malaysia’s quarterly load factor improved by 1 percentage point (“ppt”) from 4Q2022 and 1Q2019. The airline carried 2.3 million international passengers, a surge of 17% QoQ with a 19% increase in international capacity boosted by the extended Lunar New Year holiday where the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore route contributed more than 10% of the total international passengers carried. The airline achieved closed to 95% of pre-pandemic capacity by the end of March 2023.
AirAsia Thailand maintained its impressive record with the highest quarterly load factor of 92%, up 2 percentage points as compared to the last quarter. Being a core destination choice for international travellers, the airline sold 26% more international seats than the prior quarter, achieving 59% of 1Q 2019 levels.
Up by 3 percentage points from previous quarter, AirAsia Indonesia posted a healthy load factor of 81% in the first quarter. 8,375 flights were flown carrying 1.2 million passengers, of which 69% flew to international destinations. The two most popular routes were Jakarta-Singapore and Singapore-Denpasar with the highest number of international passengers flown. Among the Consolidated Airlines, AirAsia Indonesia recovered the most on the sale of its international seats, to 70% of its pre-Covid level.
The recovery for AirAsia Philippines is also progressing well, with the number of flights, seat capacity, and passengers carried recovered to between 83% and 84% of pre-pandemic levels. The airline sold 1.4 million of domestic seats 1Q of 2023, up by 8% QoQ and exceeding the 1Q 2019 level by 8%. While, international seats sold were up by 70% QoQ.
Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) reported an increase in the number of lines and checks from 3 lines and 8 checks in 1Q 2022 to 7 lines and 14 checks in 1Q 2023. To meet the resurgence of air travel demand and bring more aircraft back into service, the company expanded two additional lines from Airod, Subang and another two from Senai, Johor. ADE has commenced servicing external aircraft in addition to the Group’s aircraft.