KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): AirAsia X Bhd’s (AAX) passenger load factor rose to 83% in the first quarter of this year (1Q2024), from 80% in the same period a year earlier, driven by robust travel demand.

Its passenger load factor was also higher than 82% in 4Q2023.

The number of passengers carried by the medium- and long-haul budget carrier surged 90% to 959,623 from 504,476 in 1Q2023, while the available seats per kilometre metric jumped by 74% to 5.04 million from 2.9 million, according to AAX in a statement.

On a quarterly basis, the number of passengers carried was up 7.8%, compared with 890,289 in 4Q2023.

“In terms of networks, AirAsia X Malaysia (AAX Malaysia) launched its maiden flight to Almaty, Kazakhstan in March 2024 in its quest to enter Central Asia, starting with four times weekly flights. In addition, the company also increased frequencies to popular routes in China, such as Chengdu (seven times per week), Beijing (seven times per week), and Shanghai (11 times per week), on top of ramping up flight frequencies to Bali in Indonesia (nine times per week). This effectively contributed to an 85% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in the company’s number of flights to 3,184 during the quarter under review,” it said.

AAX Malaysia’s A330 fleet size remained at 18 as of end-March, with 16 aircraft activated and operational.

On its associate, AAX said AirAsia X Thailand’s (AAX Thailand) passenger load factor increased to 89% from 88% in the same quarter a year ago, driven by a 51% y-o-y growth in the number of passengers carried to 437,764 in the quarter.

Due to the reactivation of one aircraft into its operational fleet, AAX Thailand’s number of flights flown jumped 50% y-o-y to 1,329, while the available seats per kilometre metric grew by 37% y-o-y to 2,199.

AAX Thailand’s A330 fleet size stood at seven, with six aircraft activated and operational.

Shares in AAX have climbed over 20% in the last five days, after the company announced the plan to merge its airline operations with those of Capital A Bhd. As part of the plan, Capital A proposed to dispose of AirAsia Bhd — which owns the Malaysian aviation operation, and AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd — which manages the Indonesian, Thai, Philippine and Cambodian operations — to AAX for RM6.8 billion.

On Monday’s closing bell, AAX’s share price was up 16 sen or 11.68% to RM1.53, giving the carrier a market capitalisation of RM684.02 million.