SIA Group passenger carriage down 98.1% in September amid ‘soft’ demand for air travel

The Singapore Airlines Group suffered a 98.1% year-on-year decline in passenger carriage in September, even as Singapore opened its borders to more places. “Demand for air travel continued to remain soft as border controls and strict travel restrictions remained in place in most countries to curb the spread of COVID-19,” the group said as it published its September operating results on Thursday. Lower overall passenger carriage in September resulted in a group passenger load factor (PLF) of 17.2%, representing an almost 68 point drop from last year. SIA Group's passenger capacity was down by 90.8% year-on-year. Meanwhile for SIA itself, capacity was 88.9% lower compared to last year’s. In September, SIA's network, which was described as "skeletal", connected Singapore to 30 metro cities. This was up from the 28 in August, after adding Surabaya and Taipei. SIA's passenger carriage also declined 97.7%, resulting in a PLF of 17.4%. Meanwhile SilkAir's passenger carriage decreased by 99.1% year-on-year against a 98.1% cut in capacity, the group said, adding that the PLF was 37.1%. “SilkAir continued to operate flights to Cebu, Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur and Medan, and added Phnom Penh to the list of destinations served,” the group noted. Cargo load factor was 29.5 percentage points higher year-on-year as the capacity contraction of 59.4% year-on-year outpaced the 39.3% decline in cargo traffic (measured in freight tonne-kilometres), said the group. It added all route regions recorded year-on-year increases in cargo load factor last month. Despite the results, SIA Group noted there were “positive developments” for them as the Government gradually reopened its borders to some places.<br/>