KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — AirAsia X Bhd has reported a healthy passenger load factor (PLF) of 84 per cent for the first quarter of 2018 (Q1), with total number of passengers rising by 13 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 1.59 million.

In a statement on its operating statistics today, the budget airline said the rise in the number of passengers had exceeded its available seat per kilometre (ASK) capacity growth by 10 per cent y-o-y as it catered to increase travel demands arising from festive seasons and school holidays from January to March 2018.

“In February, AirAsia X Malaysia rotated some capacity from Australia into the Asian market while we continue to build our brand in Australia.

“We have also increased flight frequencies to Hangzhou and Taipei, further strengthening the North Asia market,” it said, adding the airline had also introduced flights to Maldives and Jaipur in February this year.

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As of March 2018, its fleet size remained at 22 A330s.

Meanwhile, its associate, AirAsia X Thailand also reported a high PLF of 94 per cent in Q1 2018, with total number of passengers rising by 19 per cent y-o-y to 503,259 passengers from 423,404 passengers previously.

It said the Thailand operation’s fleet size remained at six aircraft in the quarter.

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Additionally, AirAsia X Indonesia also posted a high PLF of 72 per cent in Q1 2018, with the number of passengers rising by more than 100 per cent y-o-y to 124,874.

AirAsia X Indonesia ended the quarter under review with a fleet size of two aircraft, bringing the AirAsia X group’s total fleet to 30 Airbus A330s.

At the closing, AirAsia X shares rose by half-a-sen to 38 sen with 7.62 million shares transacted. — Bernama