SIA Group ferries more than 1.7 million passengers in May

Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) registered a 17.4 per cent increase in passengers in May from the previous month. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) reported a 17.4 per cent increase in passenger traffic for its two carriers for May from the previous month.

In its operating results for May released on Wednesday (15 June), SIA said the strong recovery in air travel continued a month after Singapore relaxed border restriction in April.

“Apart from North Asia, travel demand recovered rapidly across all route regions,” it added.

Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot carried 1,705,200 passengers in May, compared to 1,452,500 in April.

The number of passengers presents a more than 14-fold increase from the same month last year.

Group passenger capacity reached 61 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in May, four percentage points higher than the previous month.

This is in line with SIA’s earlier expectations that passenger capacity would hit around 61 per cent of pre-pandemic levels around May.

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The group passenger load factor for May was 78.2 per cent, the highest since the pandemic began. This is a 5.5 percentage point improvement from last month and a 63.9 percentage point rise year-on-year.

Cargo load factor, which stood at 65.4 per cent, was 22.3 percentage points lower year-on-year. Cargo capacity grew 30.2 per cent on the back of passenger flight resumptions across the network.

Cargo loads dropped three per cent due to pandemic controls in China. In addition, more bellyhold space was allocated for baggage carriage as passenger load factors improved.

In May, SIA resumed operations to Medan, while Scoot resumed services to Nanjing. By end May, both airlines covered 97 destinations, including Singapore.

Singapore allowed fully vaccinated travellers to enter Singapore quarantine-free and without COVID-19 tests from 1 April. Pre-departure COVID-19 test requirements were also removed from 26 April.

Scoot recently launched ticket sales for non-stop flights from Singapore to Tokyo and resumed its flights to Osaka.

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