CAPITAL A FIRST QUARTER 2023 OPERATING RESULTS

International flights fuel growth for the airlines, 

Digital businesses ride the wave of continued travel momentum  

  • Capacity and Passengers carried: 14.8 million seats and 13.2 million passengers

  • Available-Seat-Kilometres (ASK) : 16,096 million

  • Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) : 14,145 million

  • Total activated aircraft : 157 (operating and spare aircraft)

  • airasia Superapp’s Monthly Active Users (MAU) : 12.9 million

  • BigPay’s Carded Users : 1.37 million

  • Teleport’s No. of Delivery : 5.7 million

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 April 2023 - Capital A Berhad (“Capital A” or the “Group”) has announced the operating statistics for its aviation, engineering, digital and logistics segments for the First Quarter of the Financial Year 2023 ("1Q2023").

Aviation

Starting from 1Q2023, Capital A is consolidating all four airlines under the Group, which consist of AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Philippines (the “Consolidated Airlines”). At the end of the quarter, the Consolidated Airlines had activated 157 aircraft, of which 142 were operating and 15 were spares. The increased operating aircraft, as well as robust travel demand resulted in strong passenger traffic of 13.2 million, representing a 153% and 11% growth year-on-year (“YoY”) and quarter-on-quarter (“QoQ”) respectively. The Group operated 14.8 million seats, 71% of 1Q2019 levels, with load factor of 89%, at par with pre-pandemic levels.

The aviation segment continues to grow strongly towards a full recovery, buoyed by sustained demand for international travel, alongside the re-opening of China. A total of nine China destinations were relaunched, with Guang Zhou and Shen Zhen experiencing the highest passengers carried. The overall load factor for China's routes was 84%, representing 2.5% of the total international passengers. The consistent international demand prompted all airlines to increase international capacity by 21% while the domestic market remained stable with a slight improvement of 2% QoQ.   

At 88%, 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. This was driven by the 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. Despite a slight drop of 1% QoQ in domestic capacity, passengers carried grew by 3% leading to an impressive 92% load factor, achieving close to 75% of pre-pandemic levels.

AirAsia Thailand maintained its impressive record with the highest quarterly load factor of 92%, up 2 ppts QoQ. Notably, China’s routes achieved an astounding load factor of 90%. Being a core destination choice for international travellers, the airline sold 26% more international seats than the prior quarter, achieving 59% of 1Q2019 levels. Meanwhile, the domestic sales also saw an uptick of 8% QoQ, 92% of its pre-Covid levels. With passengers carried and capacity stood at 78% and 76% of 1Q2019 levels, ASK grew 15% QoQ. The airline flew to 24 domestic and 37 international destinations.

Up by 3 ppts QoQ, 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. Domestic load factor improved by 6 ppts, while international was up by 1 ppt QoQ. 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. These achievements led to a remarkable load factor of 92%, which together with AirAsia Thailand recorded the highest load factor within the Consolidated Airlines in 1Q2023. This was driven by full recovery of the domestic market and stronger demand for international destinations. Additionally, 1.4 million of domestic seats were sold in 1Q2023, up by 8% QoQ and exceeding the 1Q2019 level by 8%. While, international seats sold were up by 70% QoQ. 

Engineering
Asia Digital Engineering (“ADE”) reported an increase in the number of lines and checks from 3 lines and 8 checks in 1Q2022 to 7 lines and 14 checks in 1Q2023. 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. Starting from 1Q2023, ADE has commenced servicing external aircraft in addition to the Group’s aircraft. 

Digital 

airasia Superapp recorded 12.9 million average Monthly Active Users (“MAU”) in 1Q2023, up by 12% QoQ, while the number of transactions reached 5.98 million, up by 99% YoY but down by 19% QoQ. The growth of MAU and transactions were mainly driven by increased AirAsia flight capacity, the continuous growth of the travel-related line of businesses (Hotels and SNAP) and airasia ride. The decrease in the number of transactions QoQ is not unexpected where most of the travel related activities are usually highest in the last quarter of the year. 

BigPay achieved 1.37 million carded users in 1Q2023, improved by 17% YoY and recorded almost 55,000 new carded users since the last quarter. Additionally, the launch of an exclusive 5% discount on AirAsia flights bolstered ecosystem spending, which contributed to an increase in overall Gross Transaction Value (“GTV”) of 59% YoY and 6% QoQ. 

Logistics 

Teleport continues to grow its e-commerce delivery business and has added dedicated freighter capacity to extend its mid-mile offering. This enhanced scale capability allied with the addition of new large accounts saw 5.7 million parcels delivered in 1Q2023, equivalent to 71% of FY2022 total volume in just three months. This also represents a 502% increase YoY. Cargo segment performance is up by 39% YoY and 15% QoQ, having Teleported 35,723 tonnes in 1Q2023, owing to the return of AirAsia international passenger flights and increased contribution from global freight forwarders.

We are excited to announce that our aviation group has made significant progress in the new year, with passengers and capacity exceeding 70% recovery levels. In addition to that, our digital and logistics businesses are reaping the rewards as travel takes off. Our focus remains on reactivating all of our 210 aircraft while providing a seamless travel experience to our guests.

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