Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd has lowered its projected recovery rate in Malaysia to 60 per cent of its pre-COVID-19 capacity by year-end, it said on Monday in its third-quarter operating statistics.
The airline in August had said it expected a 70-75 per cent recovery in Malaysia by the last quarter.
AirAsia Group’s biggest market, it said it saw a 52 per cent increase in domestic capacity in September compared to 40 per cent in July, but stricter curbs on movement in October due to rising COVID-19 cases had reined in growth.
It said it now expected a return to 45 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity in Indonesia, up from a previous expectation of 35 per cent, but lowered its view on India to 65 per cent from 75 per cent.
It is aiming for its Thai operations to exceed pre-COVID-19 capacity levels.
Group load factor – a measure of how full its planes are – grew 7 percentage points in September versus July, the group said, without providing further detail.
It said passengers carried in that period increased by 36 per cent for Malaysia, 79 per cent for India and 65 per cent for Thailand.