AirAsia X Bhd said on Tuesday it carried over 2.82 million passengers for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, 6.8 times more than the 417,195 it carried in FY2022.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): AirAsia X Bhd’s (AAX) passenger load factor (PLF) continued to climb to 80% for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), versus 78% a year earlier, even as seat capacity jumped 6.6 times year-on-year (y-o-y) to 3.55 million.

According to a statement on Tuesday, the medium- and long-haul budget carrier said it carried over 2.82 million passengers in the year, 6.8 times more than the 417,195 it carried in FY2022.

“With the increase in the number of operational aircraft and the number of flights to 9,799 flights for the year, AAX Malaysia’s available seat kilometres (ASK) capacity — total seats flown multiplied by number of km flown — surged by 7.5 times [y-o-y] to 15.6 billion.

AAX Malaysia's total fleet comprised 18 A330s as of end-December 2023, with 16 aircraft activated and operational. It served a total of 22 destinations, eight of which were launched in the last 12 months.

Touching on its associate, AAX Thailand’s PLF fell to 83% from 87% a year ago, as seat capacity rose 4.7 times to 1.6 million. ASK rose 4.8 times to 7.23 billion from 1.5 billion a year ago.

At end-2023, AAX Thailand’s fleet had eight A330s, with seven activated and operational, and serviced six routes.

On a quarterly basis, AAX recorded a PLF of 82% for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) as compared to 4QFY2022’s 79%, while seat capacity grew 2.6 times to 1.09 million in the same period.

The carrier served 890,289 passengers during the quarter, 2.6 times more y-o-y, on the back of its ramped-up fleet size and network, further buoyed by peak year-end holiday and travel season.

With its fleet growing to 16 activated aircraft versus the six back in 4QFY2022, ASK capacity surged 2.9 times to 4.77 billion from 1.66 billion.

AAX Thailand posted a PLF of 86% for the quarter — down from 90% a year ago — while seat capacity grew 1.8 times y-o-y to 450,979 seats. Quarterly ASK increased 1.8 times to 2.03 billion from 1.14 billion a year previously.