SIA sees moderate uptick in September passenger traffic on VTL tailwind

The vaccinated travel lane (VTL) arrangement has helped to lift demand for Singapore Airlines (SIA), as the designated carrier for the quarantine-free travel arrangement reported an uptick in passenger traffic and group passenger load factor. The flag carrier noted in its filing of operating statistics to the Singapore Exchange on Friday that Singapore's first VTLs with Brunei and Germany last month have boosted demand, especially to the European country. The group's total passenger traffic rose by 4.4% in September, while its group passenger load factor improved by 1 percentage point month-on-month to 18.5%, on the back of strong demand for the Frankfurt and Munich VTL services. The passenger load factor, which measures the percentage of available seating capacity filled by paying passengers, was 1.3 percentage points higher year-on-year, driven by stronger demand for flights to Europe and the Americas, SIA elaborated. But the carrier's cargo load factor at 87.4% was 1.6 percentage points lower year-on-year as SIA expanded its capacity by about 57% and loads (freight tonne-kilometres) rose by about 54%. The group expects its passenger capacity to reach around 37% of pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels by December, according to its current published schedule. The passenger capacity, SIA reported, was at 32% last month.<br/>