In September 2014, Singapore Airlines’ systemwide passenger carriage (measured in revenue passenger kilometers) declined 1.0% against last year, at a slower rate than capacity reduction of 1.9% (measured in available seat kilometers). Consequently, passenger load factor (PLF) improved 0.8 percentage points to 80.7%.
Except for Americas, passenger carriage on all route regions was stronger year-on-year. However, PLF declined in East Asia and West Asia and Africa regions as the growth in passenger carriage did not keep pace with capacity growth. PLF for Americas declined due to weaker demand. The operating environment remains challenging. Capacity will be adjusted accordingly to better match market demand and promotional activities shall continue in markets that require additional support.
SilkAir’s passenger carriage grew 8.4% year-on-year, compared to 4.2% increase in capacity. Consequently, PLF improved by 2.6 percentage points to 67.5%. Passenger carriage grew in the East Asia and Pacific region, albeit lagging behind capacity growth. For the West Asia region, PLF increased on a combination of higher passenger carriage and reduced capacity.
Overall cargo load factor was 0.8 percentage point lower as cargo traffic (measured in freight-tonne-kilometres) was 3.1% lower against an overall capacity reduction of 1.8%. Load factors were lower on all route regions, except for East Asia and West Asia & Africa where the capacity changes were more closely matched to demand.