KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 25): AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) carried 40% more passengers to 1.38 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (4QFY16), compared with 985,739 passengers a year ago. In a statement today, the long-haul low-cost airline said the improvement is in line with a 43% growth in capacity to 1.71 million seats in the quarter under review, from 1.19 million seats in 4QFY15. During the quarter, AAX added frequencies to its Malaysia operation on five routes, namely Sydney, Beijing, Sapporo, Busan and Taipei, boosted by year-end peak season demand. AAX’s associate Thai AirAsia X Co Ltd (TAAX) registered a passenger load factor of 78% in 4QFY16, from 83% in 4QFY15. For the entire year, AAX carried 4.69 million passengers, a growth of 30% from FY15’s 3.61 million passengers, backed by a capacity growth of 22% to 5.94 million seats in FY16, from 4.85 million seats previously.

Source: The Edge Markets January 25, 2017 08:00 UTC