SINGAPORE Airlines : C6L 0%(SIA) on Friday (Dec 15) posted a 17.6 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger traffic in November, amid strong passenger demand heading into the year-end peak travel season.

The national carrier’s revenue passenger kilometres, which measure the number of passengers carried multiplied by the distance flown, rose 15.4 per cent to 9.2 billion during the month, from eight billion the year before.

The growth in passenger traffic outpaced the 15.1 per cent expansion in its capacity. As a result, the group’s passenger load factor (PLF) nudged up 0.9 percentage point to 89.8 per cent. (Passenger load factor is expressed as a percentage of available seat-km.)

November’s group PLF was also higher than the 87.4 per cent clocked the month before. SIA’s PLF for the month came in at 86.9 per cent, while that for its budget arm Scoot was 90.8 per cent.

Both airlines carried 3.1 million passengers in November, up 28.6 per cent from November 2022. It held steady from October, which also saw both airlines carry just under 3.1 million passengers.

The group’s cargo operations posted a load factor of 57.9 per cent, higher than the 56 per cent from a year ago.

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Its cargo load rose 5.8 per cent on the year, supported by major retail events such as the annual Black Friday and Single’s Day sales, which led to increased e-commerce flows. The growth in cargo loads outpaced the 2.2 per cent expansion in its cargo capacity.

In November, the group resumed services to Chongqing, China. As at end-November, its passenger network covered 119 destinations in 35 countries and territories. Its cargo network had 124 destinations in 37 countries and territories.

Shares of SIA closed 0.3 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$6.47 on Friday before the announcement.