summary
- Singapore Airlines Group has steadily led the post-pandemic recovery, surpassing pre-COVID-19 passenger numbers in January 2023.
- LCC Scoot also performed well, reporting a 19.1% increase in passenger numbers and high load factors in January 2024.
- The Group’s extensive network covers 121 destinations, demonstrating its strategic expansion and strong recovery efforts.
For the past two years, we have tracked Singapore Airlines Group’s monthly performance and, although it lags at least a year behind other major airline regions, we have tracked the airline’s decline when COVID-19 hit hardest. , we’ve charted the recovery as borders slowly reopened in Asia. Throughout 2023, the Group achieved a solid and steady recovery while effectively adding capacity just ahead of the demand curve, thereby keeping load factors high and ensuring profitability in post-pandemic operations.
What does full recovery mean?
The aviation industry is dominated by numbers, and the most commonly used metric for post-COVID-19 recovery is the number of passengers on board a plane or passing through an airport. But for many airlines, generating positive cash flow and increasing profits appears to be more important in managing seat capacity than rushing more planes into the air. This is especially true for major airlines in Asia, which are struggling with some of the toughest airlines in the world. The longest lockdown due to the pandemic.
Photo: kandi stock I Shutterstock
The Singapore Airlines Group, which includes Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, has been a frontrunner in Asia, quick to spot trends and pioneer in adding planes to profitable routes. currently operates over 160 weekly flights to seven destinations. The company gradually recovered its pre-pandemic passenger numbers, carrying more passengers in January than in January 2019 and finally reaching its goal.
Photo: Ceri Breeze | Shutterstock
Singapore Airlines Group carried 3.22 million passengers with a load factor of 85.3% in January 2023, compared to 3.09 million passengers with a load factor of 83.1% in January 2019. The group’s year-on-year performance was even more impressive, with passenger numbers up 23.1 times. % increase from 2.61 million in January 2022.
Scoot takes the lead into 2024
In January, Singapore Airlines carried 2.12 million passengers, an increase of 25.2% compared to 1.69 million in the same month in 2022. Available seat kilometers (ASK) increased by only 16.6%, while revenue passenger kilometers increased by 14.4%. The coefficient decreased from 85.9% to 84.2% year-on-year. In 2023, the highest regional load factor of 91.9% was recorded in the Southwest Pacific, including Australia, followed by the Americas (86.4%), West Africa and Asia (84.3%), Europe (82.0%), and East Asia ( 78.7%).
Photo: Scoot
Low-cost airline Scoot started 2024 in a similar way to most of last year, carrying 1.1 million passengers, up 19.1% from 926,800 in January 2023 and from January 2019. The number was significantly higher than 898,000. – Pandemic figures have been previously reported, with the airline reportedly carrying 23% more passengers in January than in January 2019, with load factors of 89.4% and 84.4%, respectively.
According to fleet data, channel airlines, Scoot has 54 aircraft in its fleet, but the data lists eight as inactive. The list includes 18 Airbus A320-200s, six A320neos, nine A321neos, 11 Boeing 787-8s and 10 787-9s. In terms of passenger numbers, Scoot’s best performing region in January was the rest of the world at 96.2%, followed by West Asia (91.3%) and East Asia (86.6%).
As of the end of January, the group’s passenger network covered 121 destinations in 35 countries and territories, with SIA serving 76 destinations and Scoot serving 67 destinations. The cargo network consisted of 126 destinations in 37 countries and territories.