Thai AirAsia Reports Second Consecutive Quarter of Positive Results

Dark/Light Mode (15/05/23)  Asia Aviation (AAV), the sole shareholder of Thai AirAsia, has reported first quarter revenue of Baht 9.8 billion (approximately 2.02 billion Chinese Yuan), up 369 percent year-on-year.

The airline also reported a Q1 2023 net profit of Baht 359.4 million, on the back of Baht 1.76 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

It's the second consecutive quarter of positive results for Thai AirAsia, reflecting the recovery in the domestic market where the airline achieved a record-setting market share of 37 percent.

Similarly, demand in the international market is also rebounding, especially in China where growth has significantly improved since March 2023 and is expected to continue until the end of the year. Based on these positive developments, the company is confident of recording its first post-pandemic net profit this year.

Thai AirAsia Airbus A320 reg: HS-ABC. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com

Throughout Q1 2023, Thai AirAsia served 4.58 million passengers, up 13 percent from the previous quarter and 216 percent year-on-year.

The quarterly load factor hit a new high of 92 percent while on-time performance remained strong at 87 percent.

The airline completed the quarter with a fleet of 54 aircraft (1 aircraft pending redelivery) with 45 active in service. The utilisation rate averaged 11.8 hours per day per aircraft.

“The growth continued in Q1 2023 from the preceding quarter indicating that the tourism and aviation industries are trending positively. Notably, the carrier transported 1.42 million international passengers in the quarter, up 26 percent quarter-on-quarter, whereas international travel was barred during the same period last year,” said Santisuk Klongchaiya, Chief Executive Officer of Asia Aviation and Thai AirAsia. “The airline saw clear growth in this segment and was well prepared to capitalise on the Chinese market during the past quarter following the lifting of China’s COVID19 travel restriction policy earlier in the year. Also, domestic air travel benefited from the government’s fifth phase of the “We Travel Together” Program, which drove 3.16 million domestic passengers to fly with Thai AirAsia in Q1 2023.

Looking Ahead

For 2023, Thai AirAsia is maintaining a target of 20 million passengers served, up from the 9.95 million served last year.

Load factor has been forecast at 87 percent and the airline is confident of maintaining its on-time performance industry leadership while having the largest operating fleet of 53 aircraft.

If the travel sector recovers faster than predicted, Thai AirAsia plans to bring in more aircraft to capitalise on the opportunity for growth and is working closely with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to attract foreign tourists to the nation and support secondary cities where there is demand.

“Thai AirAsia has plans to proactively add more domestic and international routes from our Don Mueang (DMK), Suvarnabhumi (BKK), Chiang Mai (CNX) and Phuket (HKT) flight bases, which have recovered swiftly, especially to the Chinese market where demand for travel is high. From the start of the year to the end of April, over 845,000 Chinese travellers visited Thailand, second only to the 1.29 million travellers who came from Malaysia. As of the end of the first quarter, Thai AirAsia is operating 67 flights to China each week and is looking to increase frequency to 114 per week in the second quarter before returning to its pre-pandemic peak of 140 flights per week later this year. We have also continued to receive strong support for more services across ASEAN as well as to India, Fukuoka and Taipei,” added Khun Santisuk. “Domestically, Thai AirAsia has returned to flying 89 percent of its pre-pandemic total number of passengers carried with a 37 percent market share this quarter. With strong brand loyalty from our guests and the most aircraft in the market to cater for forecast increased demand we look forward to continuing to be the largest and most popular low cost carrier in Thailand.”

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