Long-haul, low-cost carrier AirAsia X today voiced “cautious optimism” amid a challenging operating environment.
The Malaysian AirAsia Group subsidiary saw its load factor rise by 8 percentage points to 82% in the first quarter of the year.
Traffic was up by 19% year-on-year, mainly due to strong demand from China and Australia.
Overall carryings topped one million, a 15% rise from the January to March period in 2015.
The load factor improved by eight percentage points to 82%.
The airline boosted capacity to cater for demand and expanded onto high yield routes such as Delhi and Auckland.
“Moving forward in 2016, the group remains cautiously optimistic as the challenging operating environment is expected to persist with currency volatility, regulatory uncertainty and other external factors beyond the group’s control,” the airline said.
“The group remains prudent in its expansion plan and continues to explore strategic initiatives to ensure sustainable growth.”
No financial figures for the period were disclosed.