Hong Kong, 13 April 2017 Hong Kong’s low-fare airline HK Express is pleased to report strong business performance in March, capping a stellar first quarter in 2017. The low-fare airline continued to grow its ancillary revenue, expand its fleet and maintain highly efficient operations.

HK Express also received the “Tourism Marketing Award” from Sina Weibo HK in the Weibo Star 2016 Awards, adding to its industry accolades. The award recognizes the low-fare airline’s social media efforts on Weibo, citing HK Express’ powerful communication messages, popularity, search engine rankings and high engagement as winning factors.

HK Express also celebrated the arrival of new aircraft, adding one A320neo and one A321 aircraft to its fleet in March. The A320neo is one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the market, promising low emissions, longer flight range and 50% noise reduction. With 21 aircraft in its fleet, HK Express will continue its passenger and network growth in Asia with new and exciting destinations to be announced later this year.

In March, HK Express flew 287,886 guests, marking a 16.81% increase compared to the same month last year. Over the past 12 months, HK Express flew 3,027,325 guests, representing a 21.28% increase compared with the same period ending March 2016.

The low-fare airline reported yet another strong Load Factor last month, marking the fourth month in a row with record operational efficiency of 90%. This was consistent with the Load Factor over the past 12 months, which remained steady at 90% on average, reflecting the airline’s ability to operate at optimal capacity as well as the support of its customers.

On-Time Performance (OTP) continues to lead the industry, recording 79.2% in March and 77.9% year-to-date. Better yet, the OTP rate was 81.5% in the past 12 months, furthering HK Express’ status as one of Asia’s most on-time airlines.

HK Express also saw excellent improvement in guest complaint rates. In March, the low-fare airline reported a guest complaint rate of just 0.06%, a 45% drop compared to the same month in 2016. Throughout the past 12 months, rates remained nominal at 0.11% on average.

Ancillary revenue has been a huge growth area for HK Express over the past year, especially since the introduction of popular services such as the U-Fly Pass and U-First. In March, ancillary revenue continued to grow and clocked 28.16%, signalling a 7.64% increase compared to the same month in 2016. Over a 12-month period, ancillary revenue hit 24.02% on average, representing a 4.94% year-on-year increase.

Following the launch of the HK Express mobile app last February which has since achieved over 620,000 downloads, the low-fare airline continues to enhance its mobile capabilities. HK Express has just rolled out its Wechat Wallet functionality, offering guests a seamless on-the-go purchase experience through Wechat.

“It’s very rewarding to see our ancillary revenue grow, as it reflects directly on our ability to offer value-added services that matter to our guests,” says Andrew Cowen, Director & CEO of HK Express. “Our commitment to enhancing the guest experience extends to our continuing investment in technology that includes our new Wechat Wallet capability. We’re also grateful to be acknowledged for our social media engagement in the Weibo Star 2016 Awards, which is a wonderful way to cap our achievements in the last quarter.”