KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 26): Capital A Bhd carried 24.24 million passengers in 2022, a 404% increase from 4.81 million carried in the previous year, on the back of post Covid-19 pandemic travel recovery.

In its preliminary passenger traffic statistics for the fourth quarter of 2022 (4Q2022) and full year 2022 released on Thursday (Jan 26), Capital A said the growth in passengers exceeded the jump in capacity of 345% year-on-year (y-o-y). This resulted in 84% load factor, one percentage point away from achieving pre-Covid load factor.

The aviation group said it carried over 7.81 million passengers in 4Q2022, up 187% from 2.72 million passengers carried a year earlier. The strong momentum in passengers was led by the recovery path of post-pandemic transition with an added impetus from rapid resumption of international travel.

“The positive growth in passengers in 4Q2022 was also driven by school holidays, festive seasons and general election peak periods,” the airline said.

Seats sold for international flights continued to surge by 3,536% y-o-y as international borders reopened alongside the loosening of travel restrictions regionally, while seats sold for domestic flights were up by 290% y-o-y.

AirAsia Malaysia carried 5.28 million passengers in 4Q2022 compared with 2.2 million passengers a year earlier. Load factor in 4Q2022 also improved to 87% compared to 79% a year ago, as 38 additional international destinations were resumed.

In total, AirAsia Malaysia flew to 17 domestic destinations and 48 international destinations in 4Q2022.

For the full year of 2022, AirAsia Malaysia successfully achieved a pre-Covid load factor of 84% and carried a total 16.77 million passengers.

AirAsia Indonesia achieved a load factor of 78% in 4Q2022 in which it flew 1.08 million passengers, an increase of 546% from 168,092 passengers carried in the same period a year ago.

AirAsia Indonesia seats sold on international flights soared sharply by 7,397% y-o-y, with the Jakarta–Penang route recording the highest load factor at 96%.

For 2022, AirAsia Indonesia flew 3.24 million passengers with close to 23,000 flights on 16 operational aircraft.

In the final quarter of 2022, AirAsia Philippines recorded a healthy load factor of 87% compared to 85% in the same period of 2021.

Passengers carried for the quarter improved 307% to 1.44 million compared to 354,886 passengers a year ago.

For the full year of 2022, Airasia Philippines carried 4.21 million passengers against 875,927 passengers in 2021.

Meanwhile, Airasia Thailand achieved the highest quarterly load factor of 90% in 4Q2022 compared to 76% in 4Q2021.

AirAsia Thailand’s rapid recovery was attributed to significant pent-up demand and numerous new destinations launched, in which it operated 42 aircraft to 24 domestic and 38 international destinations.

It flew 4.05 million passengers in the quarter, an increase of 253% from 1.14 million passengers recorded in 4Q2021.

For the whole year, AirAsia Thailand carried 9.94 million passengers, an increase of 240% from 2.92 million passengers in 2021.

The airasia Super App recorded 12 million monthly active users as of December 2022, a significant improvement of 41% y-o-y.

In 4Q2022, the number of transactions reached 11.6 million, bringing the overall transactions for the full year to 31 million, mainly contributed by the schedule extension of AirAsia flights and the launch of the new SUPER+ Unlimited subscriptions that were packaged with long and medium-haul flights.

BigPay closed the year with 1.3 million carded users, a healthy growth of 27% y-o-y, supported by campaigns such as the FIFA World CupTM giveaway in partnership with Visa, and further product enhancements.

BigPay also hit the RM1 billion milestone for international remittances in the quarter with expanded reach and better pricing helping to accelerate the growth.

Capital A’s logistics venture, Teleport, also delivered strong performance in 4Q2022, having moved 31,158 tonnes of cargo, up 26% from 4Q2021 on the back of the ongoing recovery of Capital A's international passenger network in the second half of 2022.

E-commerce delivery volume recorded 3.2 million parcels in 4Q2022, a 433% increase compared with 4Q2021 as Teleport continues to deepen its service offering with existing customers and acquire new markets with key marketplaces and third-party logistics operators in the region.