Aviation: Passengers carried outpace capacity growth driven by surge in international demand

MOVE Digital: Record high 15.4M Monthly Active Users for airasia MOVE and 1.5M carded users for BigPay drive up transaction volumes and values

Teleport: Over 100% increase in Cargo tonnage handled and 2x parcel deliveries from FY22, on the return of international flights and healthy growth of eCommerce industry

Aviation Services: Strong growth in ADE, Santan and GTR, boosted by increased flight activities

KUALA LUMPUR, 25 October 2023 - Capital A Berhad (“Capital A” or the “Group”) has announced operating statistics for its aviation, digital, logistics and aviation services segments for the Third Quarter of the Financial Year 2023 ("3Q2023"). 

AVIATION

In 3Q2023, AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia and AirAsia Philippines (the “Consolidated Airlines”) continued to post a strong load factor of 89%, carrying 14.7 million passengers on the back of 16.5 million seats capacity on 152 operating aircraft. Consistent high travel demand post-pandemic has resulted in solid Year-on-Year (“YoY”) growth with a three percentage point improvement in load factor, achieving close to 50% growth in passengers carried while seat capacity  grew close to 45%. Year-to-date, the Consolidated Airlines have now recovered 76% of passenger volume from 9M2019, surpassing overall capacity recovery of 73% for the same period.

All airlines posted notably high load factors, primarily driven by the growth in international seats sold. AirAsia Philippines took the lead with a remarkable 368% YoY increase in international passengers carried, flying over 354,000 passengers. This is followed by AirAsia Thailand carrying 1.8 million international passengers, up by 164% YoY. AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Indonesia both showed about 100% YoY growth to 3.1 million and 1.1 million international passengers respectively. 

MOVE DIGITAL (previously known as airasia Digital)

airasia MOVE, which was rebranded recently from airasia Superapp, achieved a new record of 15.4 million average Monthly Active Users, up by 61% YoY. This has led to another new high of 8.3 million transactions, up by 65% YoY. 

Gross Booking Value (“GBV”) also showcased substantial progress across all business segments, exhibiting a commendable 61% YoY growth. 

• Travel: Achieved 62% GBV improvement driven by the upsurge in passengers carried and complemented by  expanded  offerings including hotels and flights.

• Ride-hailing: Over 100% increase in GBV contributed strongly by the incremental sign-up of drivers to deliver the service, particularly in the airport ride segment.

• airasia rewards and other businesses: Recorded 13% GBV growth, largely attributed to an increased appetite among travellers for a seamless experience to book their travel needs in one platform, coupled with the ability to earn and burn loyalty points across the airasia MOVE ecosystem. 

BigPay continues to thrive, with carded users increasing by 14% YoY, now reaching 1.5 million users. Gross Transaction Value (“GTV”) has also shown encouraging progress, rising by 24% YoY with broad-based growth across all products. 

• Payment: All payment services continue to show an upward trend, on the back of stronger collaboration with airasia MOVE where closed loop payments within the ecosystem grew by 47% YoY.

• Remittance: Domestic transactions delivered the strongest growth, up 122% YoY. While international remittances GTV grew 11% YoY despite headwinds from a weakened Malaysian Ringgit.

• Lending: New loan disbursements reached a record high, growing 202% YoY, attributed to the enhanced credit scoring methodology to identify low-risk applicants during the quarter.  

• Marketplace: GTV grew by 42% YoY, largely owing to strong take up in mobile prepaid top-ups launched earlier this year. 

LOGISTICS 

Teleport continued to deliver strong quarterly performance in its core operational metrics. 

• Cargo segment: Delivered 57,309 tonnes, a 115% increase YoY. This success is further underscored by a healthy belly utilisation rate of 15% (up from 12% YoY), an achievement made possible by the return of international flights, which significantly expanded usable belly capacity. 

• Delivery segment: Continued to post impressive growth, delivering 7.4 million parcels during 3Q2023. To date, this segment has delivered 17.9 million parcels – already more than double the levels achieved in FY2022. This achievement was commendable despite some challenges in the overall e-commerce industry.

Teleport’s first dedicated A321F aircraft, Awan, flew its first international flight to Hong Kong in August, marking a significant milestone in Teleport’s regional expansion efforts. Teleport continues to build capacity through the return of AirAsia's entire fleet, the deployment of 3 A321F aircraft as well as close  strategic third-party airline partnerships.

AVIATION SERVICES

Asia Digital Engineering (“ADE”)
The Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (“MRO”) service provider, ADE, demonstrated continued strong growth, as a direct reflection of increased flight activity and the subsequently heightened demand for maintenance checks across AirAsia and other airlines that ADE services. 

• Base maintenance: 58% increase in the number of checks completed in 3Q2023 compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

• Line maintenance: 44% YoY increase in line maintenance services in tandem with the surge in flight frequencies.

Santan
The Group’s inflight service provider, Santan recorded five million units sold in 3Q2023, up by 86% YoY. 

• Perishable and non-perishable food and beverages: Contributed 97% of total units sold, underscoring the appeal of Santan's inflight culinary offerings which continue to evolve based on demand. 

• Duty-free and merchandise products: Contributed to 3% of total units sold. The uplift  in sales was a direct result of expanded capacity on international routes and more people flying.

In 3Q2023, Santan’s frozen meals showed 92% QoQ reduction. This decline was the result of the strategic shift in collaboration with a new retailer, which has shown promising sales of over 5,000 frozen meals a day during its first month of operations after launching in October. Meanwhile, the restaurant and cafe segment has  marked a 49% QoQ growth in units sold, with healthy improvements observed across all outlets. This uptick was driven primarily by increased foot traffic and heightened demand for dine-in options. 

Ground Team Red (GTR) - Associate Company

The Group’s affiliated ground handling services company, GTR demonstrated continuous growth:

• Flight handling: Serviced over 38,000 flights, a 37% YoY increase, mostly driven by a substantial surge in activities with third party airlines. 

• Passenger handling: Managed 5.8 million passengers, a 47% YoY increase, fueled by the rise in passengers carried

• Cargo handling: Managed nearly 24,000 tonnes of cargo, a 78% YoY increase, largely attributed to expanded flight frequencies.