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THE AirAsia Berhad Group reports operating statistics for the fourth quarter of 2020 and the financial year ended 31 December 2020, with a total of four operating areas carrying 23 million passengers.
According to AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes in his press release said the airline is undergoing a recovery phase with key operational metrics increasing in December 2020 compared to September 2020. During that period, mainly with a 31% increase in passengers carried by AirAsia Thailand.
“In addition, the number of passengers carried by AirAsia Philippines also doubled while AirAsia Indonesia increased the number of passengers carried by 11 times. This increase marks a solid rebound for domestic routes in demand for air travel across the Group’s main operating markets, “he said.
Tony Fernandes explained that for a full year, 2020 was a year of endurance for the four airlines, as each entity worked hard to overcome the ongoing challenges and jointly carried a total of 23 million passengers.
“As of December 2020, the four total operating areas under the group recovered nearly 60% of their domestic capacity before COVID-19. Meanwhile, post COVID-19, the Group expects to benefit from the leaner and optimized operations of the airlines established in 2020 by concentrating on restoring the most profitable and popular routes while exploring opportunities to gain market share, “he said.
AirAsia Malaysia closed the fourth quarter of 2020 with 834,934 passengers or a fill rate of 72% despite a decline in October and November following restrictions on international travel. However, following the easing of restrictions in December 2020 increased demand for domestic travel occurred.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Indonesia posted a strong rebound in the fourth quarter of 2020 because the number of passengers carried more than five times compared to the previous quarter to 389,283 passengers.
Even in December, AirAsia Indonesia more than tripled its operating capacity compared to November to match the recovery in demand. Major operations continue for domestic routes with 93% of pre-COVID-19 capacity in December.
Seeing the strong rebound in demand, the Group expects AirAsia Indonesia to fully recover to domestic capacity before COVID-19 in Q1/2021.
Philippines AirAsia carried 117,948 passengers in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a load capacity of 64%. On a month to month basis, the number of AirAsia Philippines passengers has doubled while domestic operating capacity increased to 13% in December 2020 compared to September 2020.
AirAsia Thailand’s performance also gained momentum in Q4 / 2020 driven by strong domestic travel demand during the holiday season and travel incentives from the government. AirAsia Thailand’s operations in Q4 / 2020 exceeded expectations as they exceeded domestic capacity before COVID-19 by 7%.
As of December 2020, Thai AirAsia operated 116% of domestic capacity before COVID-19 compared to 96% in September 2020. AirAsia Thailand used 70% at the end of December. More than 2.8 million passengers were carried during the quarter, a 50% increase on a quarterly basis. [photo special]
