AirAsia Berhad 4th Quarter and Full Financial Year Ended 2012

AirAsia Berhad (“AirAsia” or “the company”) is pleased to announce the operating statistics for the 4^th Quarter 2012 (“4Q12”) and the Full Financial Year ended 31 December 2012 (“FY2012”). 

Malaysia AirAsia (“MAA”) posted a high load factor of 82% in 4Q12. Total passengers carried were approximately 5.2 million, a 7% increase year-on-year which is in line with the increase in capacity to cater to the additional frequencies on existing routes and the opening of 5 new routes: Kuala Lumpur – Lombok, Kuala Lumpur – Nanning, Kuala Lumpur – Kunming, Kota Kinabalu – Guangzhou and Kuala Lumpur – Solo (re-launched). MAA added 5 new aircraft this quarter and closed the year with a total of 64 aircraft.

Thai AirAsia (“TAA”) recorded a load factor of 82% in 4Q12, a commendable 4% increase year-on-year. Approximately 2.3 million passengers were carried - 25% increase versus capacity increase of 19%. Operating from Don Mueang International Airport since 1^st October 2012, TAA has opened 3 new routes: Bangkok – Mandalay, Bangkok – Wuhan and Bangkok – Xian. TAA added 2 aircraft this quarter which brings to a total fleet of 27 aircraft at the end of 2012.

Indonesia AirAsia (“IAA”) posted a strong load factor of 76% this quarter with approximately 1.6 million passengers carried, a 29% increase year-on-year. The 31% increase in capacity from the same period in 2011 is to support the increase in frequencies and the additional 7 new routes that were added this quarter: Surabaya – Johor Bahru, Medan – Pekan Baru, Medan – Banda Aceh, Surabaya – Semarang, Surabaya – Jakarta, Ujung Pandang – Balikpapan, and Ujung Pandang – Jakarta. IAA received 3 additional aircraft in 4Q12, ending the year with 22 aircraft.

In 4Q12, the Group* recorded an increase in load factor - 81% as compared to 80% in the same period in 2011. Number of passengers increased 15% year-on-year to approximately 9.1 million with a 14% increase in capacity. For the full financial year ended 2012 (“FY2012”), the Group* recorded a strong passenger growth of 13% year-on-year with approximately 33.8 million passengers carried, in line with the 13% increase in capacity. Load factor for FY2012 remained strong at 80%. Year-on-year MAA, TAA and IAA took in an additional 17 aircraft in total bringing the total fleet size of the Group* to 113 at the end of 2012 (118 aircraft including Philippines’ AirAsia and AirAsia Japan)