KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 25): Capital A Bhd reported a load factor of 89%, carrying 14.7 million passengers in the third quarter of the year (3Q2023), compared with the 86% load factor a year ago.

In the corresponding quarter last year (3Q22), it carried 9.88 million passengers, translating into growth of 49% on year.

The group said in a statement on Wednesday the surge in passengers is largely driven by consistently high travel demand after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“All airlines posted notably high load factors, primarily driven by the growth in international seats sold. AirAsia Philippines took the lead with a remarkable 368% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in international passengers carried, flying over 354,000 passengers.

“This was followed by AirAsia Thailand carrying 1.8 million international passengers, up by 164% y-o-y.

“AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Indonesia both showed about 100% y-o-y growth to 3.1 million and 1.1 million international passengers respectively,” it said.

During the quarter under review, the group increased its capacity by 44% as it operated 152 aircraft by the end of the period compared with 103 a year ago.

Notably, available seat per km (ASK) was 19,973 million, up 75% compared with 11,417 million a year ago. Revenue per m (RPK) increased 79% to 17,550 million compared with 9,800 million.

Meanwhile, its Move Digital, which was rebranded recently from airasia Superapp, achieved a new record of 15.4 million average Monthly Active Users, up by 61% y-o-y.

BigPay, on the other hand, continues to thrive, with carded users increasing by 14% y-o-y, now reaching 1.5 million users.

The Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) service provider, Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), demonstrated continued strong growth as a direct reflection of increased flight activity and the subsequently heightened demand for maintenance checks across AirAsia and other airlines that ADE services.

“Teleport’s (the group’s logistics segment) first dedicated A321F aircraft, Awan, flew its first international flight to Hong Kong in August, marking a significant milestone in Teleport’s regional expansion efforts.

“Teleport continues to build capacity through the return of AirAsia's entire fleet, the deployment of 3 A321F aircraft as well as close strategic third-party airline partnerships,” it shared.

Shares in Capital A surged 7.5 sen or 9.15% to close at 90 sen, giving it a market capitalization of RM3.75 billion.