The increase was driven largely by a sharp traffic increase in Thailand and India, according to a report in the Nikkei Asian Review (NAR).

The third-quarter statistics cements market view of a “superb” year for AirAsia, the NAR report quoted AllianceDBS Research analyst Marvin Khor as saying.

The airline carried 14.23 million passengers in the three months ended September 30 compared with 12.88 million passengers in the same quarter last year, AirAsia said in a statement.

The company said load factor, a measure of how full planes are with passengers, rose six percentage points to a new quarterly record of 87 per cent.

The NAR report quoted analysts as saying AirAsia’s latest operating statistics indicated robust travel demand that could further strengthen towards the year-end during the peak holiday season.

In the fourth quarter, the possibility of AirAsia achieving a 90 per cent load factor appears “increasingly likely,” said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank’s analyst Tay Yow Ken.

He kept the stock on Buy call, citing factors including low jet fuel price, higher load factors and yields.

In terms of regional performance, AirAsia said its Malaysian operation flew 5 per cent more passengers while capacity declined 3 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter.

Load factor, AirAsia reported, climbed seven percentage-points to 89 per cent.

Its Thai affiliate, meanwhile, carried 21 per cent more passengers, outpacing a 17 per cent increase in capacity, while load factor improved three percentage-points to 84 per cent.

In India, passenger count surged 42 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter as AirAsia added more routes and increased frequencies.

Capacity rose 23 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier, while load factor rose 12 percentage points to 88 per cent, according to the NAR report.