MANILA, Philippines — Low-cost carrier AirAsia has returned its operations in Singapore, via the Changi Airport Terminal 4 (T4), as the airline prepares for a pickup in demand as economies learn to live with the pandemic.
The first AirAsia flight of the AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd. (AAAGL) will touch down today (Thursday) in T4 coming from Kuala Lumpur via Airbus A330 with a full load factor of 100 percent.
At the same time, Cebu Pacific (CEB) flights to and from Singapore will also be operated from T4 beginning Sept. 20. CEB flight 5J 803 Manila – Singapore and 5J 547 Cebu – Singapore on Sept. 19 will be arriving at T4. Passengers of CEB flights 5J 804 and 5J 814 Singapore – Manila, and 5J 548 Singapore – Cebu on Sept. 20 should check-in at T4. All succeeding CEB flights arriving and departing Singapore will be accommodated at T4.
AirAsia said its return to T4 would provide opportunities for the airline to beef up its services to cater to stronger demand after more than two years into the pandemic.
It will also enable AirAsia to fast-track its pre-COVID frequency levels.
AirAsia accounts for more than one in eight of the total number of passengers through Changi airport terminals. Prior to COVID, AirAsia contributed 51 percent of T4’s overall seat capacity.
For Filipino travelers alone, Singapore ranks fourth among the preferred international routes of AirAsia Philippines in terms of booking, maintaining a 91 percent load factor since July.
Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes emphasized that Singapore is an integral market for AirAsia being its third largest hub.
“We are forecasting increased demand over and above pre-pandemic levels and are seeking to add new services using our larger wide-body A330 aircraft with 377 seats in the near future,” Fernandes said.
Fernandes expressed optimism that AirAsia would see its pre-pandemic passenger numbers again sooner rather than later as he banks on international travel rebound and lesser restrictions in Singapore and other destinations as well.
“With our expansive network spanning Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific, coupled with a relatively strong Singapore dollar, we expect to see a surge in travel demand to Malaysia in particular as well as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, India and beyond,” he said.
AAAGL Group CEO Bo Lingam, for his part, said AirAsia can pass the savings to its guests and generate more traffic for Changi amid the airport’s efficiencies.
“We foresee that our aviation business performance will continue to improve across all key metrics in the near term and to reach our pre-pandemic levels on our core routes which we expect by the second quarter of 2023,” he said.
Apart from AirAsia Philippines, other AirAsia units in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand also operate to and from Singapore, connecting a total of 168 flights weekly to 12 destinations across Southeast Asia.