AirAsia X continues its skyward climb on the back of ten-fold increase in passengers and high capacity

• 80% Passenger Load Factor amidst 9x capacity boost

• Strategic expansion in core markets with key routes to India and China

SEPANG, 24 October 2023 - AirAsia X Berhad (“AirAsia X” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce its operating statistics for the Third Quarter of 2023 (“3Q23”) today. 

In 3Q23, the Company achieved a sound Passenger Load Factor ("PLF") of 80%, up by seven percentage points year-on-year ("YoY") even as capacity surged over nine times YoY to 1,014,432 seats during the quarter. This performance came on the back of a 10 times YoY increase in the number of passengers - over 807,000 passengers were carried in 3Q23 compared to nearly 80,500 passengers in the same period last year. 

Available Seats per Kilometre ("ASK") surged close to 12 times higher YoY at 4,412 million, bolstered by the increase in seat capacity and the continued recovery of the Company’s network. AirAsia X’s seat capacity grew by 24% quarter-on-quarter ("QoQ") while ASK capacity rose by 26%  as the number of serviceable aircraft increased by three aircraft QoQ in 3Q23.

During the third quarter, AirAsia X Malaysia launched its second route to India with flights to Amritsar (four times weekly) and its fourth route in China with flights to Chengdu (three times weekly), reinforcing  its commitment to return to the core markets first which it served before the pandemic. Flight frequency soared to 114 flights per week by the end of 3Q23 compared to 23 flights during the end of the same period last year; flight frequency was up 19% QoQ, with Shanghai and Perth ramping up frequencies to daily flights.

Our associate, AirAsia X Thailand carried a total of 342,078 passengers, with a healthy PLF of 82% for the quarter under review. In 3Q23, AirAsia X Thailand's ASK capacity grew by six times higher YoY at 1,797 million while seat capacity jumped five times higher YoY at 416,053 seats. In terms of network, AirAsia X Thailand's overall flight frequency grew by 15% QoQ with frequency on the Shanghai route increasing to six times weekly during the quarter.  

AirAsia X's total fleet size remained as 17 A330s as of the end of September 2023, with 14 aircraft now activated and operational, while AirAsia X Thailand's total fleet size stood at eight  A330s, with six aircraft activated and operational.

Third Quarter 2023 Operating Statistics

(1) Number of earned seats flown. Earned seats comprise seats sold to passengers (including no-shows) and seats provided for promotional purposes
(2) Number of seats flown
(3) Passengers Carried / Capacity
(4) Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) measures an airline’s passenger capacity. Total seats flown multiplied by the number of kilometres flown
(5) Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) is a measure of the volume of passengers carried by the airline. Number of passengers multiplied by the number of kilometres these passengers have flown
(6) Number of flights flown, *excluding charter and cargo flights