SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group’s passenger traffic rose 2.8% year on year in September, supported by healthy demand across most regions.
In a bourse filing on Oct 15, the group said it carried 3.5 million passengers during the month, up 3.7% from a year earlier.
Passenger capacity increased at a slightly faster pace of 3.1%, resulting in the group’s passenger load factor slipping 0.3 percentage point to 86.8%.
This was nevertheless an improvement from August, when the group’s passenger load factor fell 1.6 percentage points year on year to 86.4%.
Passenger traffic had grown 1.5% that month, against a 3.5% increase in capacity.
For SIA, passenger traffic grew 3%, while capacity rose 3.6%. Its passenger load factor fell 0.5 percentage point to 85.7%, even as the airline carried 3.6% more passengers at 2.3 million.
Load factors declined year on year in East Asia, Europe and South West Pacific, as capacity growth outpaced traffic. They rose in the Americas as well as West Asia and Africa.
Scoot, meanwhile, recorded a 0.7 percentage point increase in passenger load factor to 90.8%, as traffic growth of 2.2% outpaced the 1.4% rise in capacity.
The budget carrier transported 1.2 million passengers, 3.8% more than a year earlier.
The group’s cargo loads grew more strongly during the month, rising 9.4% year on year, ahead of the 3.1% increase in cargo capacity.
The increase was supported by growth across most verticals, particularly shipments of hardware for semiconductor and artificial intelligence applications. As a result, the cargo load factor improved 3.4 percentage points to 59.6%. Cargo and mail carried rose 8.6% to 102.2 million kg.
As at Sept 30, the group’s passenger network covered 136 destinations in 35 countries and territories. SIA served 78 destinations, while Scoot served 84.
Shares of SIA closed 0.8% or five cents lower at $6.49 on Oct 15, before the news. THE BUSINESS TIMES
