KUALA LUMPUR, 1 November 2021: AirAsia Philippines outperformed three other airlines in the AirAsia Group during the third quarter of 2021, reporting stronger year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter performances.
Reporting its preliminary operating statistics for the third quarter of 2021, AirAsia Group Berhad confirmed AirAsia Malaysia operated at 10% of its capacity, AirAsia Thailand at 4%, while AirAsia Philippines demonstrated a strong performance in the third quarter,
The Philippines unit posted a 167% growth in passengers carried year-on-year and a 5% increase quarter-on-quarter. Load factor was healthy at 77%, attributed to active capacity management. With the recent positive news announcing the uplifted travel ban for senior citizens and minors commencing last week, AirAsia Philippines is confident of a strong path to recovery, driven by strong pent up demand for leisure travel and to reconnect with relatives. Earlier this month, the government eased travel restrictions further by removing the RT-PCR test and mandatory quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated guests travelling on a number of key routes.
Due to the temporary hibernation of the fleet, AirAsia Indonesia carried 21% of passengers with 26% of capacity operated in comparison to the same quarter last year. Since mid-October, AirAsia Indonesia has gradually started resuming flights in line with demand, commencing with the Jakarta-Bali route. AirAsia Indonesia is optimistic of a further easing of travel restrictions in the near future as the population’s vaccination rate continues to increase.
AirAsia Malaysia operated 10% of capacity and carried 9% of passengers in comparison to the third quarter last year, due to strict travel restrictions in place for the most part of 3Q2021. Nonetheless, a month-on-month comparison confirms that AirAsia Malaysia more than doubled the number of passengers carried in September as compared to August, resulting in a 13 percentage point higher load factor improvement, driven by the opening of the Langkawi travel bubble, which commenced from 16 September. Subsequently, nationwide interstate and limited international travel authorised from 11 October onwards. It resulted in a surge in bookings from travellers, particularly in the visiting friends and families and leisure travel markets. This upward trend is expected to continue throughout the fourth quarter and well into 2022 as global travel restrictions continue to ease.
AirAsia Thailand carried 4% of passengers on 5% of capacity in comparison to the same quarter last year, as flights were temporarily hibernated for the most part of the third quarter in accordance with the government’s containment efforts. This setback was reversed in the middle of the quarter following the government’s announcement of a resumption of flights starting \3 September, when bookings increased significantly, particularly for leisure destinations which achieved load factors as high as 90%. With the upcoming year-end peak holiday season coupled with the reopening of the Phuket Sandbox to international travellers, AirAsia Thailand remains confident of a strong recovery in demand in 4Q2021.
