SIA Group flies 2.6 million passengers in January holiday season
Tan Nai Lun
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and Scoot flew a combined 2.6 million passengers in January, as demand was boosted by the year-end peak return traffic and the Chinese New Year holiday season.
This represented a four-fold increase year on year, although January’s passenger capacity was down 2.7 per cent month on month, SIA noted in a bourse filing on Wednesday (Feb 15).
In January, SIA said it continued to see strong passenger traffic and load factors across all route regions, including East Asia. During the month, the airline resumed services to Guangzhou, China, while Scoot resumed services to Balikpapan, Indonesia.
Group passenger capacity in January remained at 80 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels, similar to December 2022.
The group’s passenger load factor (PLF) in January came in at 86.9 per cent, down 2.8 percentage points from its peak in December. Year on year, PLF rose by 46.9 percentage points.
SIA posted a monthly PLF of 85.9 per cent, and Scoot, 90.4 per cent.
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The group’s cargo operations registered a load factor of 51.8 per cent, down 24.2 percentage points year on year.
SIA noted that loads declined 24.8 per cent on year due to weaker cargo demand; capacity, on the other hand, rose by 10.2 per cent on year as increased passenger services resulted in higher belly-hold capacity.
At the end of January, the group’s passenger network covered 112 destinations in 36 countries and territories, with SIA serving 77 destinations and Scoot, 58. Its cargo network comprised 117 destinations in 38 countries and territories.
Shares of SIA closed 1.4 per cent lower at S$5.79 on Wednesday.
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