AirAsia X record 29 pct passanger growth in Q2 

KUALA LUMPUR : AirAsia X has recorded strong growth in the second quarter of 2012, carrying 0.58 million passengers, representing a 28.9 per cent growth over the same quarter in 2011 for continuing routes.

The figures exclude London, Paris, Mumbai, New Delhi and Christchurch, which have been withdrawn earlier in 2012. AirAsia X commenced services into Sydney in April, bringing its route network to 13 destinations across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, the AirAsia Group said in a statement.

In terms of passenger traffic, AirAsia X achieved 3.8 billion available seat kilometres (ASKs) and 3.1 billion revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) for the second quarter of 2012, resulting in a 82 per cent load factor, it said.

This is an increase of four percentage-points from the second quarter of 2011 load factor of 78 per cent, it said. All routes that AirAsia X has operated for over a year have yielded an increase in load factor in the second quarter of 2012 versus the second quarter of 2011.

Cargo operations continues to be strong, with AirAsia X carrying 7,374 tonnes of freight in the second quarter of 2012 and 14,781 tonnes for the first half of 2012, registering a nine per cent growth from a year ago for its continuing routes.

For the first half of 2012, AirAsia X carried a total of 1.1 million passengers, reflecting an increase of 16.6 per cent versus the first half of 2011 on the continuing routes.

AirAsia X achieved ASKs of 8.3 billion and RPKs of 7.0 billion in the first half of 2012, representing a load factor of 84 per cent, which is a 5 percentage point increase versus the first half 2011 load factor of 79 per cent.

Azran Osman-Rani, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia X, said AirAsia X remains bullish on the prospects of the year for the long-haul and low-cost segment.

“As we are currently focusing on increasing capacity in our identified core markets including Australia, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, we expect to see a stronger presence in Asia-Pacific in the near future,” he added.

AirAsia X is the low-cost and long-haul affiliate carrier of the AirAsia Group that currently flies to destinations in China, Australia, Taiwan¸ Iran, South Korea, Japan and Nepal. - BERNAMA