SIA Group sees July load factor drop amid capacity boost

Singapore Airlines Group reported a drop in passenger load factor for July, even as it flew more passengers in the month and significantly grew capacity. Load factor for the group’s carriers — comprising mainline carrier SIA and low-cost arm Scoot — fell 5.3 percentage points year on year to a dismal 16.3%. This was despite a four-fold increase in passenger numbers — to around 151,000 passengers — and capacity growing by nearly six times year on year. Mainline operator SIA flew 128,800 passengers in July, a significant jump from the 29,300 passengers carried in the same month last year. Capacity, measured in ASKs, jumped more than five-fold year on year, while RPKs for the month quadrupled compared to 2020. SIA’s passenger load factor fell 5.1 percentage points, to just 17.6%, with the sharpest decline reported in the South West Pacific and East Asia regions. The group’s cargo operations performed relatively better in the month — cargo load factor was up 2.6 percentage points to 87.2%, led by an uptick in load factors to the Americas and West Asia and Africa regions. <br/>