Business

Saturday August 18, 2012

AirAsia X passenger growth rises 29% in second quarter


PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd’s long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X, has recorded a 28.9% passenger growth in the second quarter of 2012 from a year earlier for continuing routes.

In a statement, it said it carried 580,000 passengers to 13 destinations across the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, including Sydney, which it commenced services in April.

The figure exclude flights to London, Paris, Mumbai, New Delhi and Christchurch, which have been withdrawn earlier in 2012.

For its passenger traffic in the second quarter, it recorded 3.8 billion available seat kilometres (ASKs) and 3.1 billion revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs). This translated to a 4% increase in its load factor from 78% in 2011 to 82% in 2012 quarter-on-quarter.

AirAsia X remains bullish on the prospects of the year for the long-haul and low-cost segment, says Azran. AirAsia X remains bullish on the prospects of the year for the long-haul and low-cost segment, says Azran.

For the first half of 2012, the carrier served 1.1 million passengers, a 16.6% jump compared with a year earlier.

It achieved 8.3 billion ASKs and 7 billion RPKs for the first half of 2012, which translated to a load factor of 84%, 5% more than the first half of 2011.

On cargo operations, it saw 7,374 tonnes of freight carried in the second quarter of 2012. For the first half of this year, freight amounted to 14,781 tonnes, registering a 9% growth from first half of 2011 for the continuing routes.

AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said in the statement that the company remained bullish on the prospects of the year for the long-haul and low-cost segment.

He expects the stronger presence in Asia-Pacific in near future through identified core markets including Australia, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story
  • Bookmark and Share