BANGKOK, 15 May 2018: Asia Aviation Plc, the major shareholder of Thai AirAsia, reported a net profit of THB 1,004.1 million on a total revenue of THB 11,642.8 million during the airline’s first quarter 2018.
Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia reported the same total revenue for the first quarter with a record net profit of THB 1,834.6 million.
The airline’s load factor stood at 91%, up two percentage points and passengers carried reached 5.64 million, up 16%.
At the same time there was a 15% growth in seat capacity as the airline added three aircraft to its fleet (now 59) and introduced three new routes.
Asia Aviation Plc and Thai AirAsia, chief executive officer, Tassapon Bijleveld said: “TAA saw continued growth in Q1/2018 mainly due to its enthusiastic work in the domestic market, especially in secondary provinces. Thai AirAsia also started operating seven new routes during the quarter.”
The additional routes were from Bangkok (DMK) to Ranong, Johor Bahru, Chengdu and Chumphon.
From Phuket it launched services to Macau and Kunming and from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani.
It also increased frequencies on 12 routes from Bangkok (DMK) and Pattaya (U-Tapao)
Some routes were dumped due to poor traffic, or financial results. The Bangkok (DMK) to Tiruchirappalli, India flight was dropped. Chiang Mai to Ubon Ratchathani and Ubon Ratchathani to Pattaya (U-Tapao) were also suspended.
“We strengthened our domestic services in line with policies from the government. New routes introduced in the quarter were Bangkok (Don Mueang) to Ranong and Chumphon, while Thai AirAsia covers nine destinations, 19 routes and 69 flights per day in southern region of Thailand,” Mr. Tassapon added.
For international market, Thai AirAsia continued to focus on neighbouring Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam CLMV by increasing flights.
In addition to having a strong base in the China market, the company sought new opportunities in the high potential market of India.
In terms of the operational results in Q1/2018, Tassapon noted that TAA achieved its targets, especially the growth of 77 % net profit year-on-year, resulting from the strong growth in number of passengers carried, high demand during the peak season and the appreciation of the Thai Baht coupled with a record load factor of 91%.
For the second quarter, April to June, Tassapon said the airline would increase flights on popular routes By the close of the year the airline targets 23.2 million passengers, a load factor of 87% and will add seven new aircraft to raise the overall fleet strength to 63.
