AirAsia X Records 29% Passenger Growth in Second Quarter 2012
SEPANG, 17 August 2012 – AirAsia X has recorded strong growth in the second quarter of 2012, carrying 0.58 million passengers, representing growth of 28.9% over the same quarter in 2011 for continuing routes*. AirAsia X commenced services into Sydney in April 2012, bringing its route network to 13 destinations across Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
In terms of passenger traffic, AirAsia X achieved 3.8 billion Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) and 3.1 billion Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKs) for the second quarter of 2012, resulting in a load factor of 82%. This is an increase of 4 percentage-points from the second quarter of 2011 load factor of 78%. 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 9% 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% 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%, which is a 5 percentage point increase versus the first half 2011 load factor of 79%.
Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X said, “AirAsia X remains bullish on the prospects of the year for the long-haul, low-cost segment. As we are currently focusing on increasing capacity in our identified core markets including Australia, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, we expect to see a stronger presence in Asia Pacific in the near future. Our recent announced additional lease of 6 aircrafts from International Lease and Finance Corporation (ILFC) and the upcoming delivery of existing orders from Airbus in 2013 and 2014 emphasize further our commitment and aim in becoming the dominant market leader in the long-haul low-cost segment. Our commitment would further strengthen our network and increase feeder traffic for better connectivity within the AirAsia Group.”
AirAsia was named World’s Best Low Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for four consecutive years in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
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*excluding London, Paris, Mumbai, Delhi and Christchurch, which have been withdrawn earlier in 2012
