Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group reported a 41.7 y-o-y and 15.4 m-o-m percentage point increase in passenger load factor (PLF) to 54.5% in March, making the figure the highest since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the group, both its flagship airline Singapore Airlines and Scoot reported a significant increase in passenger demand as travel restrictions eased in almost all key markets. The Singapore government’s increased vaccinated travel lane (VTL) quota for daily arrivals also helped with the growth in passenger demand.
In a bourse filing on its March operating results, the group also reported passenger capacity of 8,061.6km, up 122.8% y-o-y and 51% of the group’s pre-Covid-19 levels. Passengers carried surged 792.1% y-o-y to 893,000.
Singapore Airlines reported PLF of 59.5%, up by 46.6 percentage points y-o-y, mainly due to higher load factors across all route regions.
Passenger capacity increased by 102.4% y-o-y to 6,759.3km, while passengers carried surged 773.9% y-o-y to 764,700.
PLF for Scoot increased by 16.8 percentage points y-o-y to 28.6%, while passenger capacity increased 366.8% y-o-y to 1,302.3km. Passengers carried surged 918.3% y-o-y to 128,300.
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Cargo load factor (CLF) stood 19.8 percentage points lower y-o-y at 72.5%.
Cargo loads rose 16.6% to 48.3%, mainly due to the progressive resumption of passenger flights, and slightly offset by pandemic controls in China and Hong Kong, which limited exports from those markets.
In March, the group resumed services to several destinations in Australia and Southeast Asia, as well as to Cape Town, Gatwick and Newark.
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As at end-March, SIA Group’s passenger network covered 93 destinations, or about two thirds the points flown before the pandemic. SIA served 69 destinations, while Scoot served 43.
Looking ahead, the group says it expects passenger capacity to each around 61% of its pre-Covid-19 levels by May.
Shares in SIA closed 6 cents lower or 1.10% down at $5.40 on April 18.
