“Revenue however increased by 66% to RM908.91 million against RM548.84 million previously, primarily generated from more ticket sales and ancillary revenue,” said the low-cost airline in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
In a separate statement, AAX said it posted a solid passenger load factor (PLF) of 83%, up three percentage points year-on-year (y-o-y), with best-performing routes in China, India, and Japan recording over 90% PLF.
Available seat kilometres increased by 74% y-o-y in line with solid market demand.
“On the network, driven by the commitment to accelerate and regain market leadership and following the extension of the visa-exemption policy to China until 2025, the low-cost airline increased flight frequencies to its popular routes in the country.
“This includes Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai, as well as ramping up flight frequency to leisure favourite Bali in Indonesia,” it said.
Overall, AAX said it has delivered an 85% y-o-y increase in the number of stages to 3,184, with total weekly flights at 135 per week on average in Q1 2024.
“The group’s total fleet size remained at 18 A330s as of end-March 2024, with 16 aircraft now activated and operational.
“Additionally, AAX Thailand’s fleet size stood at seven A330s, with an additional aircraft reactivated during the quarter,” it added.
AAX CEO Benyamin Ismail said the airline expects two remaining aircraft to rejoin the operational fleet in July and November this year, while the group works towards ensuring its fleet requirements for further growth in the future are secured.
“At present, we welcome the recent announcement of the extension of the visa-exemption policy to China until 2025.
“Since the relaunch of routes to China, PLF in the country has been strong at about mid-90%, while the all-new Almaty route proved successful in Central Asia with over 90% PLF routinely trending since its launch.
“Looking to the future, we are excited about the A321XLR aircraft on our order book, which will bring our growth ambitions to fruition, as it unlocks a range of up to nine hours with a reduced cost base compared to our current fleet,” he said.