Twofold increase in passenger traffic from last year powers significant growth in aviation services and digital businesses

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 July 2023 - Capital A Berhad (“Capital A” or the “Group”) has announced the operating statistics for its aviation, digital, logistics and aviation services segments for the Second Quarter of the Financial Year 2023 ("2Q2023").

AVIATION

In 2Q2023, AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Philippines (the “Consolidated Airlines”) posted a healthy load factor of 88%, having carried 14.2 million passengers, almost double the number year-on-year (“YoY”). Across the group, 16.2 million seats were available, operated by 146 of the 166 activated aircraft. To date, the Consolidated Airlines have recovered 73% and 74% of 1H2019 capacity and passengers carried respectively. With the strong resurgence of travel demand, the group Available Seat Kilometres (“ASK”) grew to 18,989 million, improved 132% YoY and Revenue Passenger Kilometres (“RPK”) up by 146% YoY, recorded at 16,312 million.

During the quarter, the largest short-haul airline in the group, AirAsia Malaysia recorded a strong overall load factor of 87% reaching 6.4 million passengers. AirAsia Thailand, on the other hand, posted a load factor of 89% carrying 4.6 million passengers. While AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Philippines posted robust load factor at 84% and 91%, with passenger carried of 1.5 million and 1.6 million, respectively.
Throughout the 2Q2023, the domestic performance was incredibly strong and international market traffic remained buoyant with favourable load factor. In response to the robust international market demand, the group has reallocated more capacity to international routes to meet the strong resurgence from the international market.

MOVE (new name of airasia Digital, comprising airasia Superapp & BigPay)

airasia Superapp continued to gain strong momentum recording its highest quarterly average Monthly Active Users (“MAU”) of 15 million in 2Q2023, up 40% YoY. This led to a 102% YoY jump in the number of transactions at 7.9 million. The encouraging results indicate improved user engagement in the app, as the number of transactions rose more than two-fold compared to the average MAU on a yearly basis.
Gross Booking Value (“GBV”) has also improved notably by 110% YoY. The Travel vertical experienced a 9% improvement and the Delivers vertical saw a 5% increase, while Rewards and other businesses delivered close to 8% growth. These were largely attributed to Superapp Super Sale campaigns, free seats campaigns for AirAsia Flights and ongoing efforts to increase fleet drivers for airasia ride that improved completion rates, which resulted in a total of 2.6 million rides completed by June 2023.

BigPay’s carded users grew by 16% YoY reaching 1.4 million users. The Gross Transaction Value (“GTV”) also posted an upward trend, climbing 40% YoY driven by domestic transactions within the Payment and Remittance products. 

Additionally, the Marketplace GTV grew by 32% YoY with the introduction of prepaid mobile top-ups, which enables users to top up directly through the BigPay app while earning airasia points which can be redeemed for services and products on airasia Superapp. The Lending segment that was launched in Malaysia in 1Q2022, grew 6% YoY. The managed growth of the Lending product is deliberate to ensure a stable and balanced risk-return profile. 

LOGISTICS 

Teleport continues to demonstrate robust performance, having moved 45,250 tonnes, up 105% YoY, driven by the increased cargo belly capacity from the return of international flights and increased utilisation. The delivery segment also showed strong uplift, delivering 4.9 million parcels in 2Q2023. The 321% YoY improvement showcases Teleport’s success to capture wallet share from key marketplaces, now served by a combination of dedicated freighter and flexible belly capacity that enhances Teleport’s ability to meet market requirements.

The 12 July 2023 was a momentous breakthrough for Teleport with the official induction of its first dedicated A321F aircraft named Awan, further strengthening its extensive air cargo network. The freighter’s inaugural flight took place on 17 July 2023, covering the Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching routes initially, with plans to expand internationally, starting with flights to Hong Kong in August.

AVIATION SERVICES
Asia Digital Engineering
Asia Digital Engineering (“ADE”), the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (“MRO”) service provider in the region completed 22 base maintenance checks in 2Q2023, up from 12 checks conducted in the same period last year, due to the commencement of two additional maintenance lines in Senai. Line maintenance services also grew substantially by 179% YoY, of which 98% were from narrowbody aircraft and remaining 2% from widebody aircraft.

Santan
The Group’s inflight service provider, Santan recorded 4.8 million units sold in 2Q2023, up by 189% YoY. Among these, 98% were perishable and non-perishable food and beverages items, and the remaining 2% were duty-free and merchandise products. The surge in demand for inflight products is in line with the increase in flight frequencies and improved passenger traffic.

The ready-to-eat and frozen food segments saw a 16% QoQ decline in units sold. Consumer access to these products decreased during this period, as a result of the transition in ambient food distribution shifting to convenience stores. Meanwhile, the restaurant and cafe segment saw units sold rise by 18% QoQ benefiting from higher foot traffic. 

Ground Team Red (GTR) - Associate Company

GTR, the affiliated ground handling services company, managed nearly 37,000 flights, (of which 94% were AirAsia branded) and handled 5.7 million passengers in 2Q2023. In addition, GTR managed 16,787 tonnes of cargo, up 39% YoY, aligned with additional belly capacity in the market due to the increased flight frequencies of domestic and international routes from the ongoing travel recovery.