AirAsia Philippines announced that its load factor in 2023 reached a high of 91 percent from 89 percent in 2022, even as the number of passengers it carried also increased by 57 percent from 4.2 million passengers to 6.6 million passengers for the same period.
AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer Ricky Isla said.that the airline’s 2023 Q4 numbers also contributed 25% to the overall performance of the airline with 1.6 million passengers carried, translating to an 88% load factor.
“Our success and growth in passenger capacity reflects the strong demand for air travel. Other factors seen to have contributed to our increased capacity include stable jet fuel prices, and our monthly double digit sales which are anchored to providing the best deals to our guests. This 2024, we will continue to strengthen our domestic presence while leveraging on our strong route network across Asean and beyond,” he said.
Various festivities slated towards 2024 Q2 as well as the summer season have now dictated the booking preferences of guests. As early as 25 January, AirAsia Philippines experienced an increase in forward bookings for March, April, and May with more than 300,000 seats already sold for top domestic destinations such as Boracay, Bohol, Puerto Princesa, and Cebu, and international destinations Taipei, Narita, Tokyo, and Incheon, he added.
“The full return of our pre pandemic fleet this 2024 is seen to optimize flight frequency, re-activate previously shelved destinations, and open more international routes that will satisfy the travel needs of our guests,” Isla said.
Meanwhile, Capital A Berhad, AirAsia Philippines’ parent company released the operating statistics for its aviation for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of the Financial Year 2023.
Other airline members of the Group – AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, and AirAsia Indonesia have consistently recorded load factors in the high 80s every quarter, leading to a robust Group load factor of 88% for FY2023 – a Year-on-Year (“YoY) increase of 5 percentage points (“ppts”). This achievement signifies the return of strong travel demand, which was aligned with the Group’s relentless effort to inject capacity back into the market and reinstate the route network. As more capacity is made available, operations continue to stabilize and customer experience improves.
Closing the year with 162 operational aircraft, overall the Group carried nearly 57 million passengers for the entire year. Compared to pre-COVID levels, the aviation group passenger carried recovery reached 77% on the back of 74% capacity recovery. Leading the way is the domestic recovery which stands at 82%, while the international recovery is at 72%.
